Rebecca Moynihan

Senator Rebecca Moynihan
Moynihan in 2020
Senator
Incumbent
Assumed office 29 June 2020
Constituency	Administrative Panel
Leader of the Labour Party in the Seanad
Incumbent
Assumed office September 2021
Leader	Alan Kelly Ivana Bacik
Preceded by	Ivana Bacik
Personal details
Born	(1981-12-11) 11 December 1981 (age 43)[1][2] Rialto, Dublin, Ireland
Political party	Labour Party
Children	1
Website	rebeccamoynihan.ie

Rebecca Moynihan (born 11 December 1981) is an Irish Labour Party politician who has been a Senator for the Administrative Panel since April 2020.^[3]

She is the party's spokesperson on Housing, Local Government, and Heritage. She previously served as a member of Dublin City Council from 2009 to 2020, representing Crumlin-Kimmage and the South West Inner City.^[4]

Early life

Moynihan is from a working-class family in Rialto, Dublin.^[5]

Political career

Moynihan became involved in the Labour Party at a young age; she was the National Chair of Labour Youth from 2002 to 2004 and is involved in Labour Women.

In 2009, she was elected as a member of Dublin City Council. While a councillor, Moynihan had a motion passed to ensure free period products were available in all Dublin City Council buildings,^[6] and secured 100,000 euros in funding for this project.^[7] She was elected unopposed as Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin in 2016 to Lord Mayor Brendan Carr.^[8]

Moynihan contested the 2020 general election in the Dublin South-Central constituency,^[9] but was unsuccessful, getting 2,095 (4.8%) first preference votes.

At the 2020 Seanad election, she was elected to Seanad Éireann on the Administrative Panel.^[10] Darragh Moriarty was co-opted to her seat on Dublin City Council following her election to the Seanad.

As the party's spokesperson on housing, Moynihan has opposed co-living proposals put forward by the government, stating that it is "not suitable" and "even more unsuitable in the context of the Covid crisis".^[11]

In January 2021, Moynihan tabled the Period Products (Free Provisions) Bill, which would provide for free tampons, sanitary pads and reusable products in all school bathrooms, educational institutions and public buildings in Ireland.^[12]

She is not contesting the 2025 Seanad election.^[13]

Personal life

Prior to becoming a senator, Moynihan taught at Rathmines College of Further Education.^[14]

References

1. Monaghan, Gabrielle (28 October 2013). "Meet the young age pensioners..." Independent.ie. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
2. Rebecca Moynihan (11 December 2020). "Today I'm living my birthday dream with this iconic lunch". Retrieved 8 February 2021 – via Twitter.
3. "Rebecca Moynihan". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
4. "Councillor Rebecca Moynihan". www.dublincity.ie. Dublin City Council. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
5. Clarke, Donald (1 January 2022). "50 people to watch in 2022: The best young talent in Ireland". The Irish Times. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
6. "Dublin City Council to provide free sanitary products in its buildings". Newstalk. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
7. "Moynihan secures €100K in DCC budget for free sanitary products". 26 November 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
8. Kearns, David (28 June 2016). "Emotions run high as city gets new Lord Mayor". The Herald. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
9. Power, Jack (10 February 2020). "Dublin South-Central results: Fine Gael junior minister Catherine Byrne loses seat". Irish Times. Dublin. Archived from the original on 5 June 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
10. Hosford, Paul (3 April 2020). "FF and FG set for Seanad majority". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
11. Horgan-Jones, Jack. "Former minister for housing backs co-living ban". The Irish Times. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
12. Phelan, Ciara (14 January 2021). "Bill to provide free period products for all in Ireland proposed". The Irish Mirror. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
13. "Who are the political parties putting forward in the Seanad election?". TheJournal.ie. 31 December 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
14. Courtney, Julian (16 January 2020). "Rebecca Moynihan interview". Insight. Retrieved 8 February 2021.

External links

• Labour Party profile