Fiona O'Malley | |
|---|---|
| Senator | |
| In office 13 September 2007 – 25 May 2011 | |
| Constituency | Nominated by the Taoiseach |
| Teachta Dála | |
| In office May 2002 – June 2007 | |
| Constituency | Dún Laoghaire |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1968-01-19)19 January 1968 (age 57) Limerick, Ireland |
| Political party | Independent |
| Other political affiliations | Progressive Democrats(until 2009) |
| Relations |
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| Alma mater | |
Fiona O'Malley (born 19 January 1968) is an Irish former politician who served as aSenator from 2007 to 2011, after beingnominated by the Taoiseach. She served as aTeachta Dála (TD) for theDún Laoghaire constituency from 2002 to 2007.[1][2]
O'Malley comes from a political family. Her father,Desmond O'Malley, was a formerFianna Fáil cabinet minister and founder of theProgressive Democrats. Her granduncle,Donogh O'Malley, was a Fianna Fáil minister in the 1960s. She is also a cousin of another former Progressive Democrats TD,Tim O'Malley.
A graduate ofTrinity College Dublin andCity University London, she worked as an Arts Administrator before entering politics and as aPersonal assistant toLiz O'Donnell from 1998 to 2000.[3] Her first political position was as elected member of theDún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council from 1999. She was elected toDáil Éireann for the Dún Laoghaire constituency at the2002 general election. She resigned her council seat in 2003 when thedual mandate came into effect.[4]
She was a member of theOireachtas Committee on Arts, Sports and Tourism and the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children. She was also a member of the Dáil All-Party group concerned with matters of sexual and reproductive health. She has travelled toSouth America andSouth Africa with theUnited Nations Population Fund and has spoken extensively of the need for a clearsafe sex message both in Ireland and in the developing world.
She lost her Dáil seat at the2007 general election, but wasnominated by the Taoiseach,Bertie Ahern to the Seanad in August 2007. She was narrowly defeated in the race to become the leader of the Progressive Democrats byCiarán Cannon.
She was anindependent politician from the dissolution of theProgressive Democrats in 2009.[1] She was an independent candidate at the 2011 Seanad election for theDublin University constituency but was not elected.[4]