Maureen O'Sullivan (born 10 March 1951) is an Irish former

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

politician who 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 Dublin Central constituency from 2009 to 2020.

Early life

A native of

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

's East Wall, she was educated locally at Mount Carmel school. After completing a BA at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

, she then went on to work as an English and History teacher and guidance counsellor in a secondary school in

Baldoyle Baldoyle () is a coastal suburb of Dublin, Ireland, it was developed from a former fishing village. Baldoyle is also a civil parish in the barony of Coolock within the traditional County Dublin. Location and access Baldoyle is located northe ...

, a position she held for 30 years.

Political career

She was a member of

Tony Gregory Tony Gregory (5 December 1947 – 2 January 2009) was an Irish independent politician, and a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Central constituency from 1982 to 2009. Early life Gregory was born in Ballybough on Dublin's Northside, the secon ...

's local political organisation in the 1970s, first canvassing for him and later serving as his election agent. She was co-opted onto

Dublin City Council Dublin City Council () is the Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local authority of the city of Dublin in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Until 2001, the authority was k ...

for the North Inner City local electoral area from September 2008 to June 2009, after the retirement of Mick Rafferty. After the death of

, she won the resulting

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

which was held on the same day as the local elections where she also won a seat on Dublin City Council, for the North Inner City local electoral area. Marie Metcalfe was co-opted to take the seat due to the

dual mandate A dual mandate occurs when an official serves in or holds multiple public positions simultaneously. This practice is sometimes known as double jobbing in Britain, double-dipping in the United States, and ''cumul des mandats'' in France. Thus, if ...

rule. O'Sullivan was re-elected to the Dáil at the 2011 general election. She joined the Dáil

Technical group In parliamentary politics, a technical group or mixed group is a heterogeneous group of elected officials who are of differing ideologies, comprising multiple small political parties, independent politicians, or a combination of both. They can be ...

which gave independents and minor parties more speaking time in Dáil debates. She described a proposal for political gender quota legislation as "tokenistic" and that women were able to get themselves nominated for election. In December 2015, Maureen O'Sullivan and fellow independent TDs Clare Daly and

Mick Wallace Michael Wallace (born 9 November 1955) is an Irish politician, former property developer and former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Republic of Ireland, Ireland for the South (European Parliament constituency), South constituency f ...

each put forward offers of a €5,000 surety for a 23-year-old man being prosecuted under terrorism legislation in the

Special Criminal Court The Special Criminal Court (SCC; ) is a juryless criminal court in Ireland which tries terrorism and serious organised crime cases. Legal basis Article 38 of the Constitution of Ireland empowers the Dáil to establish "special courts" with ...

in Dublin charged with membership of an illegal

dissident republican Dissident republicans () are Irish republicans who do not support the Northern Ireland peace process. The peace agreements followed a 30-year conflict known as the Troubles, in which over 3,500 people were killed and 47,500 injured, and in whi ...

terrorist organisation. After the 2016 general election she unsuccessfully stood for election as Ceann Comhairle. She joined a

technical group In parliamentary politics, a technical group or mixed group is a heterogeneous group of elected officials who are of differing ideologies, comprising multiple small political parties, independent politicians, or a combination of both. They can be ...

aligned with Independents 4 Change, while remaining outside the Independents 4 Change party. O'Sullivan was criticised by the brother of late TD Tony Gregory, over an allegedly false claim made in her election literature. On 16 January 2020, O'Sullivan announced she would not be standing in the February 2020 general election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osullivan, Maureen 1951 births Living people Alumni of University College Dublin Independent TDs Irish schoolteachers Members of Dublin City Council Members of the 30th Dáil Members of the 31st Dáil Members of the 32nd Dáil 21st-century women Teachtaí Dála Politicians from County Dublin