Pat Cullen | |
|---|---|
 Cullen in 2024 | |
| Member of Parliament forFermanagh and South Tyrone | |
| Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Michelle Gildernew |
| Majority | 4,571 (8.9%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Patricia Yvonne McAleer 1965 (age 59–60) Carrickmore,County Tyrone,Northern Ireland |
| Political party | Sinn Féin |
| Spouse | Enda Cullen |
| Children | 2 |
| Occupation | Politician Trade unionist |
| Profession | Nurse |
Patricia Yvonne Cullen (néeMcAleer; born 1965)[1][2] is an IrishSinn Féin politician, trade unionist and nurse who has served asMember of Parliament (MP) forFermanagh and South Tyrone since2024. Cullen was the Chief Executive and General Secretary of theRoyal College of Nursing[3] from July 2021 to May 2024.[4]
Cullen was born Patricia Yvonne McAleer inCarrickmore,County Tyrone, the youngest of seven children born to farmer Paddy McAleer and his wife, Annie. The decision of the eldest sister, Birdie, to become a nurse inspired Pat to follow the same career. Her brother and four of her five sisters all became nurses. Pat's other sister had a learning disability, which prompted Pat to study mental health nursing.[5]
Cullen worked as acommunity nurse in westBelfast duringthe Troubles. During a period as a nurse trainee atHolywell Hospital inAntrim when she was 18, Cullen wrote a letter of complaint to hospital management about their "token economy" policy, whereby psychiatric patients had important personal possessions confiscated as punishment for "difficult" behaviour. She succeeded in having the hospital soften the policy. She later became a registered psychotherapist.[6] Cullen went on to hold roles at thePublic Health Agency and theHealth and Social Care Board, before joining theRoyal College of Nursing (RCN) in 2016.[7] In May 2019, she became director of the Northern Ireland Board of the RCN.[8] She started acting as General Secretary and Chief Executive in April 2021, and was appointed as interim General Secretary and Chief Executive of the UK-wide RCN in July 2021.[9]
In late 2022, she led theNational Health Service strikes in which English and Welsh nurses went on strike for the first time in the nursing union's 106-year history.[10] In April 2023, her union announced a strike on May bank holiday weekend (30 April to 2 May) after RCN members rejected the pay offer.[11]
In 2023, Cullen was described by theNew Statesman as ”one of the UKs most prominent Trade Union leaders”, being placed at No.15 in their list of the most powerful left-wing figures of the year, above many elected politicians.[12]
In May 2024, Cullen announced she was stepping down from her role at the RCN in order to stand as a candidate forFermanagh and South Tyrone in the2024 United Kingdom general election.[13] On 4 July she was duly elected asSinn Féin MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, succeeding fellow Sinn Féin memberMichelle Gildernew and increasing the party's majority from 0.1% to 8.9% of the vote.[14] Like all Sinn Féin UK MPs, she follows anabstentionist policy and has not taken her seat inWestminster.
She is married to Enda Cullen, who is ageneral practitioner in Belfast.[15]
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