Lisa Chambers (born 24 August 1986) is an Irish

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...

politician, and former barrister who has served as

Leader of the Seanad The Leader of the Seanad (referred to within the Seanad as Leader of the House ga, Treoraí an Tí) is a member of Seanad Éireann appointed by the Taoiseach to direct government business. Since December 2022, the incumbent is Lisa Chambers of ...

since December 2022. She served as deputy leader of the Seanad from 2020 to 2022, and as Leader of Fianna Fáil in the Seanad since June 2020. She previously served as a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...

(TD) for the

Mayo Mayo often refers to: * Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo" * Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States Mayo may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land Australia * Division of Mayo, an Aust ...

constituency from 2016 to 2020.

Early life

Chambers is from

Castlebar Castlebar () is the county town of County Mayo, Ireland. Developing around a 13th century castle of the de Barry family, from which the town got its name, the town now acts as a social and economic focal point for the surrounding hinterland. W ...

. She practised as a barrister, running her own practice in the town. She holds a professional bar qualification from the King's Inns, a Masters in Commercial Law from

University College, Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

(UCD), and a graduate degree in Commerce and Law from

NUI Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

(NUIG). She was an unsuccessful candidate at the 2011 general election for the Mayo constituency. She was elected to

Mayo County Council Mayo County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Mhaigh Eo) is the authority responsible for local government in County Mayo, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and ...

following the 2014 local elections. Chambers was a member of the

Reserve Defence Forces , image = , caption = , image2 = , caption2 = , motto = , founded = 1 October 2005 , current_form = , disbanded = , branches = Army Reser ...

(RDF) for 13 years, having joined as a teenager during secondary school. She was commissioned as an officer in the

Army Reserve A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve ...

in November 2012, serving as a second lieutenant with the 1st Armoured Cavalry Squadron (Curragh Camp), shortly after she transferred to the D Company (Castlebar), 6th Infantry Battalion, but resigned her commission when elected to the Dáil.

Political career

TD (2016–2020)

Following the 2016 general election, she was elected as a

TD for the Mayo constituency. She is not related to fellow Fianna Fáil politicians Frank Chambers or Jack Chambers. She was appointed Spokesperson on

Defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...

in the Fianna Fáil Front Bench on 18 May 2016, succeeding

Seán Ó Fearghaíl Seán Ó Fearghaíl (; born 17 April 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as the Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann since March 2016. He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kildare South constituency since 2002. He was a S ...

who had been elected Ceann Comhairle of the

32nd Dáil 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

. She was later given the Brexit portfolio in a reshuffle. She lost her seat at the 2020 general election after 4 years in the Dáil. In an extended podcast interview with Sean O'Rourke as part of the RTE TV series Two Tribes, aside from a national trend towards Sinn Fein and a poor Fianna Fail national campaign she attributed her election failure to her position on the 8th Amendment "in what is predominantly a conservative constituency particularly among Fianna Fail voters".

Senator (2020–present)

At the 2020 Seanad election, Chambers was elected as a Senator for the

Cultural and Educational Panel The Cultural and Educational Panel () is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland). The Cultural and Educational Panel elects five ...

. She is Fianna Fáil spokesperson on Foreign and European Affairs in the Seanad. Chambers also chairs the Seanad Special Select Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.

Controversies

On 29 November 2018 in a Dáil debate on Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018, Chambers stated "Abortion regret is made up and it does not exist". A number of days later she apologised to hurt she caused and stating her comments were taken out of context. On 17 October 2019 Chambers became embroiled in a voting controversy, she was shown in to have voted on behalf of party colleague

Dara Calleary Dara Calleary (born 10 May 1973) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation since August 2022. He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Mayo constituency since th ...

and herself during a vote on an amendment on a forestry motion. In December, the Sunday Independent discovered footage from 17th January 2019 that appeared to show Chambers sitting in Timmy Dooley's seat for fifty minutes while seven votes were recorded, although not visible in the footage, votes were also recorded from Chambers' seat. She was one of a number of TDs found to be claiming a €25-per-day expense for phone roaming charges while travelling in the EU, two years after mobile phone roaming charges were abolished in the region. She claimed a total of €525 for ‘daily telephone allowance’ while travelling in the EU. In February 2020, Chambers defended choosing a route to the Oireachtas that is 35km longer than the shortest possible journey, placing her in the "band 9" of the travel allowance table increasing her annual allowance by €1,350. Several months later, Chambers was found to have received expenses of €6,626 for April and May 2020 during which time the Seanad was closed due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

References

External links

Lisa Chambers' page on the Fianna Fáil website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chambers, Lisa 1986 births 21st-century women Teachtaí Dála 21st-century women members of Seanad Éireann Alumni of King's Inns Alumni of the University of Galway Alumni of University College Dublin Fianna Fáil TDs Fianna Fáil senators Irish barristers Living people Local councillors in County Mayo Members of the 26th Seanad Members of the 32nd Dáil Military personnel from County Mayo People from Castlebar Politicians from County Mayo