Ivana Bacik | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Bacik in 2021 | |
| Leader of the Labour Party | |
| Assumed office 24 March 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Alan Kelly |
| Teachta Dála | |
| Assumed office 9 July 2021 | |
| Constituency | Dublin Bay South |
| Leader of the Labour Party in the Seanad | |
| In office 25 May 2011 – 9 July 2021 | |
| Leader | |
| Preceded by | Phil Prendergast |
| Succeeded by | Rebecca Moynihan |
| Deputy leader of the Seanad | |
| In office 25 May 2011 – 6 May 2016 | |
| Taoiseach | Enda Kenny |
| Leader | Maurice Cummins |
| Preceded by | Dan Boyle |
| Succeeded by | Catherine Noone |
| Senator | |
| In office 13 September 2007 – 12 July 2021 | |
| Constituency | Dublin University |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1968-05-25)25 May 1968 (age 57) Dublin, Ireland |
| Political party | Labour Party |
| Spouse | Alan Saul |
| Relations | Charles Bacik (grandfather) |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Alexandra College |
| Alma mater | |
| Website | ivanabacik |
Ivana Catherine Bacik[a] (/ˈbɑːtʃɪk/[2])(born 25 May 1968) is an Irish politician who has been theleader of theLabour Party since 24 March 2022 and aTeachta Dála (TD) for theDublin Bay South constituency since winning aby-election on 9 July 2021. Bacik previously served asleader of the Labour Party in the Seanad from 2011 to 2021, and aSenator for theDublin University constituency from 2007 to 2021.[3] She previously served asdeputy leader of the Seanad from 2011 to 2016. Bacik came to prominence due to herabortion rights campaigning from the 1980s onwards.[4][5]
Bacik's paternal grandfather,Charles Bacik, was a Czech factory owner who moved to Ireland in 1946.[1][6] He eventually settled inWaterford and in 1947 was involved in the establishment ofWaterford Crystal.[1] Her mother's side of the family are Murphys fromCounty Clare. Her father was an astronomer and was employed in a number of locations. As a result, she lived in London and South Africa, before moving toCrookstown, County Cork, twenty miles west ofCork City, aged six, when he became a physics lecturer in theCork Institute of Technology. She attended the nearby national school inCloughduv. When Bacik was 11 years old, her family moved to the Sunday's Well area of Cork City.[7][8] At the age of 14, she moved to Dublin.[9]
She won a scholarship to board atAlexandra College inMilltown, Dublin, and was awarded asizarship atTrinity College Dublin.[10][7] She has anLL.B. from Trinity and anLL.M. from theLondon School of Economics.[11]
She lives with husband Alan Saul and their two daughters inPortobello, Dublin.[12][13][14]
Bacik resigned as president ofTrinity College Dublin Students' Union in 1990, after breaking the mandate from the Union membership regarding voting for candidates at aUnion of Students in Ireland conference.[15] Despite 13 TCD representatives being mandated to vote for one candidate, Martin Whelan, a former TCD SU president, it transpired that he received only 12 votes, Bacik's vote instead being given to the feminist former UCD SU officer, Karen Quinlivan. A controversy erupted in the Students' Union and a subsequent internal investigation led to Bacik's resignation.[16]
She was taken to court by theanti-abortion group, the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child (SPUC), for providing information on abortion. SPUC were successful in the court case, although that success came in the 1990s, long after Bacik had graduated from Trinity College.[17] A High Court injunction had been ordered against Bacik and other members of the TCD Students' Union in October 1989.[18] In November 1989, Bacik was informed by theGardaí that the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) and the TCD Students' Union were under investigation following complaints that "they were corrupting the public morals by disseminating information on abortion."[19] In an article she wrote for the International Planned Parenthood Federation, she said it was soon-to-be Irish President Mary Robinson that prevented her and students' union members from going to prison.[20]
Bacik contested theSeanad Éireann elections in 1997 and 2002 as anindependent candidate for theDublin University constituency but was not successful.
She ran as aLabour Party candidate at the2004 election to theEuropean Parliament in theDublin constituency.[21] She ran with sittingMEPProinsias De Rossa, who was also the party president, on the same ticket.[22] She polled 40,707 first preference votes (9.6%) but was not elected.
In 2004, her bookKicking and Screaming: Dragging Ireland into the 21st Century, was published by O'Brien Press.[23]
In 2007, she contested theSeanad Éireann elections for the third time in the Dublin University constituency, and was elected to the third seat, behind sitting Independent senatorsShane Ross andDavid Norris. She initially sat as an Independent senator.
In February 2009, Bacik was included in an 'All Star Women's Cabinet' in theIrish Independent.[24] In March 2009, Bacik confirmed claims made on a TV programme that she had taken two voluntary pay cuts of 10% in addition to a pension levy.[25] In June 2009, Bacik was the Labour Party candidate for theDublin Central by-election she came in third with 17% of the first preference votes.[26][27] She joined the Labour Party group in the Seanad in September 2009,[28] and became Labour Party Seanad spokesperson for both Justice and Arts, Sports and Tourism. In November 2009, a feature by Mary Kenny of theIrish Independent included Bacik in a list of women who "well deserved their iconic status."[29]
In May 2010, she sought Labour's nomination to contest the next election in theDublin South-East constituency but was not selected.[30] In December 2010, she was added to the ticket as the second candidate beside Labour Party leader,Eamon Gilmore, in theDún Laoghaire constituency for the2011 general election. Gilmore topped the poll, with Bacik receiving 10.1% of first preference votes but she was not elected.[31] She was re-elected toSeanad Éireann at the subsequent election, after which she became Deputy leader of the Seanad.[32] She held her seat in the Seanad in 2016 and in 2020.
On 27 April 2021, after the resignation ofEoghan Murphy from hisDáil seat inDublin Bay South, Bacik announced her intention to stand inthe upcoming by-election.[33] She campaigned with an emphasis on providing affordable housing,[34] as well as improving healthcare and childcare, tacklingclimate change, and achieving "a true republic in which church and state are separated". During the campaign, she described herself as having "more bills passed into law than any other Senator, on issues such as workers' conditions, women's health rights, and LGBT equality".[35] Bacik also campaigned on increasing the number of sports amenities for children in the area, calling for unusedDefence Forces football fields at theCathal Brugha Barracks to be freed up for local sports, with the suggestion rejected byFine GaelMinister for DefenceSimon Coveney.[36][37] Fine Gael complained to RTÉ after she featured prominently onNational Treasures, a prime-time TV show broadcast by RTÉ during the campaign. RTÉ has strict rules about fair coverage of candidates during campaigns. The national broadcaster blamed an "inadvertent error" for the programme being shown three days before the election. A steering group within the broadcaster told Fine Gael that "the broadcast should not have happened." Consequentially, RTÉ had to show a special report on the by-election onPrime Time to "ensure fair coverage is given to all candidates".[38]
Bacik won this election, receiving 8,131 (30.2%) first-preference votes. It was her fourth attempt as a Labour candidate, and she expressed her delight at the success at the count centre in the RDS.[39] Following the election, she was described by theIrish Times as "a formidable activist and public intellectual" and that Fine Gael's perceived antipathy towards their former TD,Kate O'Connell, may have contributed to the surge in support to Bacik from women voters. The newspaper claimed that her election was "a long overdue morale boost" for Labour.[40]
In August 2021, Bacik apologised for attendingKatherine Zappone'scontroversial party in theMerrion Hotel, Dublin, in July of that year. She stated that she believed that it took place within existing COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.[41][42][43]
In March 2022, she confirmed she wouldrun to succeed Alan Kelly as Labour Party leader.[44] Kelly stated that he believed that Bacik would succeed him.[45] On 24 March 2022 she was confirmed as Labour Party leader unopposed at a party conference in Dublin. In a speech, she said she would focus on the rising cost of living and the serious and global problems facing the country.[46] Bacik pledged that Labour would fight the next election as a "standalone party" rather than joining any left-wing alliance.[47]
At the2024 general election, Bacik was re-elected to the Dáil.
Bacik's policies have been described as liberal andsocial democratic;[48] In 2022, Bacik described herself as a "socialist, asocial democrat and ascentre-left. That means that I stand for constructive politics, of seeking to deliver change by going into government".[49]
Since 2007 Bacik has spoken in support of thelegalisation of cannabis.[50] She has proposed that cannabis should be sold under license at music festivals in Ireland such asElectric Picnic, calling for a "rational" approach to drugs.[51]
In May 2019, following the results of theMother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation which found that hundreds of children had died while in the care of homes run by the Catholic Church, Bacik called for the government to take financial action against the religious orders involved.[52]
In 2020, she sponsored legislation in the Seanad to grant Irish citizenship to any child born on the island of Ireland,[53] which resulted in the Irish citizenship laws being changed in March 2021.[54]
In December 2020, she called for foreign frontline medical workers fighting against theCOVID-19 pandemic in Ireland to be rewarded with fast-tracked citizenship applications, as has been done in France.[55]
In 2022, Bacik called for a pay rise for workers and awindfall tax on energy companies,[56] and an increase in the minimum wage.[57]
Bacik has stated she is in favour of decriminalising sex work, though she is critical of theNordic Model, which criminalises the purchase of sex. She has expressed support for the views of organisations likeAmnesty International and the Sex Work Research Hub, which advocate for the total decriminalisation of sex work, while raising concerns about the growing exploitation in legalised systems, citing her research and discussions with those involved in the trade in Sweden. Bacik acknowledges that the term "sex worker" may be problematic for many survivors, but she maintains that "the realities of sex work" are undeniable, as described by former workers.[49]
On economic issues, Bacik supports the redistribution of wealth through progressive taxation, including the introduction of property taxes and carbon taxes. She believes that Sinn Féin's refusal to support a property tax is populist and contradictory to their left-wing stance. Bacik has long advocated for an inclusive,red-green alliance focused on environmental and economic equality, which she views as the key to addressing the climate emergency.[49]
Bacik is a supporter of Palestine, and has expressed a desire to see Irish support for Palestine "reflected in government policies".[58] In September 2006, Bacik was one of the 61 Irish academic signatories of a letter published inThe Irish Times calling for an academic boycott of the state ofIsrael.[59] In January 2009, she declared that she wants Ireland to break off diplomatic relations with Israel[60] and in February 2009 called for a general boycott of Israeli goods.[61] After theIsraeli invasion of the Gaza Strip in 2023, Bacik called for a ceasefire in anIrish Independent opinion piece,[62] and said the position ofIsraeli ambassador to Ireland,Dana Erlich, "should now be under question" following comments Erlich made.[63]
In 2022 Bacik commended the Irish government for its response toRussian invasion of Ukraine, particularly for its intake of over 20,000 refugees. She has also called for stronger actions at the EU and UN levels, including the expulsion of the Russian ambassador, and condemned Putin's aggressive foreign policy, drawing on her personal family history to underscore her opposition to Russian authoritarianism.[49]
In March 2023, she stated that the year's eviction ban was intended to provide the government with breathing space to increase housing supply and that the government's targets fell short.[64]
Bacik was appointedReid Professor of Criminal Law, Criminology and Penology atTrinity College Dublin (TCD)Law School in 1996. She taught courses in criminal law; criminology and penology; and feminist theory and law at Trinity. Her research interests include criminal law and criminology, constitutional law, feminist theories and law, human rights and equality issues in law. Bacik was a made aFellow of Trinity College Dublin in 2005. In 2022 she resigned her role as associate professor in the university.[65] However, as of May 2024 she continues to be listed as Reid Professor and is currently designated as an adjunct assistant professor on the Trinity College website.[66]
Bacik has also practiced as a barrister. In 2006, she acted asjunior counsel inZappone v. Revenue Commissioners,[67] the unsuccessfulHigh Court case brought byKatherine Zappone andAnn Louise Gilligan over the non-recognition of their Canadiansame-sex marriage by theRevenue Commissioners.[68]
In 2019, Bacik was chosen by the Irish Women Lawyers Association as Irish Woman Lawyer of the Year.[69] In 2019, she was selected asIrish Tatler's 'Woman of the Year.'[70]
| Elections to theDáil,Seanad andEuropean Parliament | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Election | FPv | FPv% | Result | ||
| Independent | Dublin University | 1997 | 885 | 6.6 | Eliminated on count 5/6 | |
| Dublin University | 2002 | 1,591 | 11.2 | Eliminated on count 9/10 | ||
| Labour | Dublin | 2004 | 40,707 | 9.7 | Eliminated on count 5/6 | |
| Independent | Dublin University | 2007 | 2,794 | 16.5 | Elected on count 8/8 | |
| Labour | Dublin Central | 2009 | 4,926 | 17.3 | Eliminated on count of 7/8 | |
| Dún Laoghaire | 2011 | 5,749 | 10.1 | Eliminated on count of 9/11 | ||
| Dublin University | 2011 | 2,982 | 19.2 | Elected on count 10/18 | ||
| Dublin University | 2016 | 2,853 | 17.8 | Elected on count 13/15 | ||
| Dublin University | 2020 | 3,489 | 23.2 | Elected on count 6/8 | ||
| Dublin Bay South | 2021 | 8,131 | 30.2 | Elected on count of 9/9 | ||
| Dublin Bay South | 2024 | 5,684 | 14.3 | Elected on count of 9/12 | ||
the former Independent senator representing Dublin University, Ivana Bacik, has since aligned with the Labour Party
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| Preceded by | Leader of the Labour Party 2022–present | Incumbent |
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