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Jan O'Sullivan (; born 6 December 1950) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Education and Skills from 2014 to 2016 and as a
Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...
from 2011 to 2014. She served as a
Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( ; ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish language, Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The official Engli ...
(TD) for the Limerick City constituency from 2011 to 2020, and previously from 1998 to 2011 for the Limerick East constituency.


Personal life

O'Sullivan was born in Clonlara,
County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...
, in 1950. She was educated at Villiers School,
Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...
, where her father was a journalist. After graduating from
Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...
, she took a Higher Diploma in Education at
University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...
. After working as a teacher for a short period of time, she studied as a Montessori teacher while living in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. After returning to Ireland, in the late 1970s, O'Sullivan helped to run Limerick's
family planning Family planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, and the age at which they wish to have them. Things that may play a role on family planning decisions include marit ...
clinic. A member of the
Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...
, she married Paul O'Sullivan, a
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and a GP; they have one daughter and one son. She spent time at home while having her children and once they were in school she ran a playgroup in the mornings, spent time with the children in the afternoon and did political work in the evenings.


Political career


Democratic Socialist: 1982–1990

In 1982, O'Sullivan joined the Democratic Socialist Party (DSP), a small party founded by Limerick TD Jim Kemmy, who had previously been a members of the Labour Party. There had been no political tradition in her family – her parents had supported different parties – and her choice of party was based on her support for Kemmy's anti-nationalist stance on Northern Ireland, and his advocacy of family planning services and a
pro-choice Abortion-rights movements, also self-styled as pro-choice movements, are movements that advocate for legal access to induced abortion services, including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their ...
approach to abortion. Family planning was deeply controversial in Ireland from the 1970s to the 1990s, particularly in Limerick, where Kemmy had lost his Dáil seat at the November 1982 general election, after being denounced by the Catholic Church for his opposition to the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. Those such as O'Sullivan who were involved in the family planning services which Kemmy had helped found were labelled "Kemmy's Femmies". O'Sullivan was elected to Limerick City Council in 1985, she also served as a member of the Mid-Western Health Board from 1991 to 2003.


Labour: 1990s

O'Sullivan joined the Labour Party when the DSP merged with Labour in 1990, having been one of the DSP's negotiators in the merger discussions. At the 1992 general election, as the running-mate Jim Kemmy, she narrowly missed winning a second seat for Labour in Limerick East. In 1993, she was elected to the 20th Seanad on the
Administrative Panel The Administrative Panel is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Republic of Ireland, Ireland). The Administrative Panel elects seven senator ...
, and became leader of the Labour group in
Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann ( ; ; "Senate of Ireland") is the senate of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (defined as the house of representatives). It is commonly called the Seanad or ...
. From 1993 to 1994, O'Sullivan was
Mayor of Limerick The Mayor of Limerick is the head of the local government of the Limerick, City and County Limerick, County of Limerick. It is a directly elected office with a five-year term. Following the 2024 Limerick mayoral election, John Moran (Mayor of Li ...
. Her religion twice became an issue in 1994, when she was prevented from opening a Christian Brothers School and from reading a lesson at a mass for Limerick's civic week. O'Sullivan was unsuccessful again at the 1997 general election, but after Kemmy's death in September 1997, she was selected as the Labour Party candidate for the by-election in March 1998. She held the seat in a close three-way contest, becoming the first female TD from
County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...
since Kathleen O'Callaghan in 1921. Both the
Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...
and
Fine Gael Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, Christian democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann. The party had a member ...
candidates in the by-election were also women.


Labour: 2000s

O'Sullivan was re-elected at the
2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...
,
2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
and
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
general elections, and at the 1999 local elections became Limerick's first alderwoman (as well as its last, as the title was abolished by the
Local Government Act 2001 The Local Government Act 2001 (No. 37) was enacted by the Oireachtas on 21 July 2001 to reform local government in Ireland. Most of the provisions of the Act came into operation on 1 January 2002. The act was a restatement and amendment of pr ...
). In the 28th Dáil, she was the Labour Party Spokesperson on Justice and Equality and a member of the
Oireachtas The Oireachtas ( ; ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of the president of Ireland and the two houses of the Oireachtas (): a house ...
Joint Committee on Justice, Equality and Women's Rights. In the
29th Dáil The 29th Dáil was elected at the 2002 Irish general election, 2002 general election on 17 May 2002 and met on 6 June 2002. The members of Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Republic of Ireland, Irel ...
, she was vice-chair of both the Dáil Select Committee on Education and Science and the Joint Committee on Education and Science, as well as her party's spokesperson on Education and Science. After Labour's failed to make gains at the 2007 general election, Pat Rabbitte resigned as leader and the outgoing deputy leader, Liz McManus, did not seek re-election.
Eamon Gilmore Eamon Gilmore (born 24 April 1955) is an Irish diplomat and former Labour Party politician. He has served as European Union Special Representative for Human Rights since February 2019. He has also been the European Union Special Envoy for th ...
was elected unopposed as leader, O'Sullivan stood for the deputy leadership, and was defeated by Dublin West TD Joan Burton, by 1,480 votes to 1,276. In a frontbench reshuffle on 16 September 2007, Gilmore appointed O'Sullivan as Spokesperson for
Health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...
.


Government: 2011–2016

On 10 March 2011, she was appointed by the Fine Gael–Labour government as Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with special responsibility for Trade and Development. On 20 December 2011, she was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government with special responsibility for Housing and Planning. She attended meetings of the cabinet, a position described as a "super junior" minister. In July 2014, she was appointed Minister for Education and Skills. She continued the promotion of plurality in a church-dominated system by divesting schools of church patronage, and announced new multi-denominational schools under the patronage divesting process. In March 2015, the government, with O'Sullivan the minister responsible, confirmed it would lock away for 75 years any statements it received from victims of
child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in Human sexual activity, sexual activit ...
(almost twice the normal length). This decision was criticised by survivors.


Opposition: 2016–2020

O'Sullivan retained her seat in the 2016 general election, one of only seven Labour TDs to be elected. The party did not enter government, though O'Sullivan retained her position as Minister for Education and Skills until talks on government formation had concluded and the formation of a new government on 6 May 2016. She lost her seat at the 2020 general election.


References


External links


Jan O'Sullivan's page on the Labour Party website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osullivan, Jan 1950 births Living people Alumni of University College Cork Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Democratic Socialist Party (Ireland) local councillors Women government ministers of the Republic of Ireland Irish Anglicans Irish schoolteachers Labour Party (Ireland) TDs Members of Limerick City Council Mayors of Limerick (city) Members of the 20th Seanad 20th-century women members of Seanad Éireann Members of the 28th Dáil Members of the 29th Dáil Members of the 30th Dáil Members of the 31st Dáil Members of the 32nd Dáil 20th-century women Teachtaí Dála 21st-century women Teachtaí Dála Ministers for education of Ireland Ministers of State of the 31st Dáil Politicians from County Clare Women mayors of places in Ireland Labour Party (Ireland) senators Women ministers of state of the Republic of Ireland People educated at Villiers School People from Clonlara Administrative Panel senators