Verona Murphy | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Murphy in 2025 | |
| Ceann Comhairle ofDáil Éireann | |
| Assumed office 18 December 2024 | |
| Deputy | John McGuinness |
| Preceded by | Seán Ó Fearghaíl |
| Teachta Dála | |
| Assumed office February 2020 | |
| Constituency | Wexford |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1970/1971 (age 53–54)[1] Ramsgrange,County Wexford, Ireland |
| Political party | Independent |
| Other political affiliations | Fine Gael (until 2020) |
| Domestic partner | Joe Druhan |
| Children | 1 |
| Alma mater | Institute of Technology, Carlow |
Verona Murphy (born 1970/1971) is an Irishindependent politician who has beenCeann Comhairle ofDáil Éireann since 2024, and aTeachta Dála (TD) for theWexford constituency since 2020.[2] Originally from the Ramsgrange area ofCounty Wexford, Murphy was involved in theroad haulage business before unsuccessfully standing for election forFine Gael in the2019 Wexford by-election. After being de-selected by Fine Gael, she stood and was elected as an independent TD at the2020 and2024 general elections.
One of 11 children, Murphy was born and raised in Ramsgrange by parents who were farmers and livestock dealers.[3] She dropped out of school at 15 to pursue work,[4] before moving to England, where she worked at aVauxhall Motors factory by day and aMcDonald's franchise by night.[3][5] She then returned to Ireland and bought her first truck and trailer at the age of 21.[6] She later returned to education, doing herLeaving Certificate at 35[6] and graduating with a BA in law fromInstitute of Technology, Carlow.[7]
Murphy ran a haulage firm, Drumur Transport, with her partner Joseph Druhan.[8] The business closed in 2021.[9] She was elected as the president of theIrish Road Haulage Association in 2015,[10] the second woman to hold the position.[5] In 2018, theWorkplace Relations Committee ruled against Murphy in finding that she had penalised an office worker in her 60s who had raised allegations of bullying against her, in her role as president of the Irish Road Haulage Association. The WRC ordered the IRHA to pay €20,000 compensation to the complainant.[11] Following her election to the Dáil, Murphy stepped down as president of the association.[12]
Murphy has one child, a daughter she had at the age of 22.[6][13]
She was selected as theFine Gael candidate for theNovember 2019 Wexford by-election, which was called after the election ofMick Wallace to theEuropean Parliament.[14] During the by-election campaign, Murphy made remarks supportingNoel Grealish's attempts to block adirect provision centre being created inOughterard,County Galway, and suggested that immigrants coming to Ireland were being "infiltrated byISIS" and would need to be "deprogrammed".[15] She claimed that immigrants as young as "three or four years old" were a danger because of ISIS brainwashing and that ISIS is a "big part" of the migrant population in Ireland.[16][17]
These remarks were criticised by theIrish Refugee Council and by members of opposition parties in theDáil.[15] Murphy subsequently apologised for her remarks and issued a statement, stating "This was a very poor choice of words and I am very sorry to anyone who was offended by them. People coming here fleeing persecution deserve to be treated with compassion and respect. They need to be given opportunities to forge a new start for themselves and their families. That is why we have direct provision: to provide board and lodging to people seekingasylum".[15]
However, following the apology, Murphy released a campaign video onYouTube in which she claimed that she had been "the victim of “character assassination in the media". This prompted the leader of Fine Gael and TaoiseachLeo Varadkar to comment directly on Murphy, stating the video was "bizarre" and "not party-approved".[18] Several other top-ranking members of Fine Gael were also disturbed by her campaign, includingTánaisteSimon Coveney, who stated that Murphy's comments were wrong, and her choice of language about migrants was not acceptable.[19] Murphy refused to participate in any of the by-election debates or panel discussions during the campaign.[20] Fine Gael stated it was aware of allegations against Murphy ofworkplace bullying before the campaign began.[21]
On election day, Murphy received 9,543 (23.8%) first preference votes and was eliminated on the fourth count, in third place behind Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) and George Lawlor (Labour).[22] Despite the defeat, Murphy insisted on election day that she would be Fine Gael's candidate in the2020 general election.[22]
In December 2019, Fine Gael de-selected Murphy as a candidate for the 2020 general election, as a result of her behaviour during the November by-election.[23] When asked again about Murphy after the by-election, Leo Varadkar stated "quite frankly I'm glad she didn't get elected" and remarked; "What was done subsequently in terms of the video she did which sort of tried to imply the whole thing was a media character assassination attempt on her – I had a big problem with that because maybe it suggested to me that the apology and retraction wasn't fully sincere." Furthermore, Varadkar declared that it had been a "mistake" by Fine Gael to select Murphy as a candidate, a mistake for which he took responsibility.[24]
Following her de-selection, Murphy left Fine Gael.
In the 2020 general election, Murphy was elected as anindependent TD in the Wexford constituency.[25][26][27]
In November 2021 Murphy was accused of spreadinganti-vax information in the Dáil by health ministerStephen Donnelly after Murphy stated studies had shown "that a vaccinated person is every bit as likely to transmit this virus as a non-vaccinated person". Murphy stated she was not "anti-vax" and had been vaccinated herself, but believed the choice to take vaccinations was up to the individual.[28][29]
In February 2024, Murphy confirmed that she would run a team of candidates as part of the newly formed Wexford Independent Alliance at the2024 Wexford County Council election.[30][31] The alliance ran 12 candidates and five were elected toWexford County Council.[32]
Murphy was re-elected at the2024 general election, topping the poll with 21.6% of first-preference votes and being elected on the first count.[33][34]
On 18 December 2024, she waselected to the position ofCeann Comhairle of the34th Dáil. She is the first woman to hold the office.[35][36] As a result of protests against her decision to grant opposition questioning time to Independent TDs who support the government, several opposition TDs launched a protest in one of the first sessions of the34th Dáil. The protest saw Murphy "[lose] control of the House for more than five and a half hours" on her first day as Ceann Comhairle, leading to some calls for her resignation.[37] This situation would evolve into the2025 Dáil speaking rights dispute. On 26 March, the leaders ofSinn Féin and theLabour Party each expressed no confidence in Murphy's position, offering her "time to reflect" before considering a formal motion.[38] On 1 April 2025, Murphy won a motion of no confidence.[39] It was the first time since the establishment of the Dáil in 1919 that a Ceann Comhairle has stood against a motion of no confidence.[40][41]
She also claimed that three-year-olds had been manipulated by the terrorist group.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Ceann Comhairle ofDáil Éireann 2024–present | Incumbent |