Jennifer Murnane-O'Connor
Jennifer Murnane O'Connor is a Fianna Fáil Senator from Carlow. [1][2] She was elected to the Labour Panel of the 25th Seanad in April 2016, having narrowly missed out on a Dáil seat in February of that year.
Murnane O'Connor first ran for the Dáil in 2011, when she polled a respectable 6% of the first preference vote in Carlow-Kilkenny at a time when national support for Fianna Fáil had reached its lowest point in the history of the State.
She did not run in the 2015 by-election in the constituency, caused by the appointment of Phil Hogan to the European Commission, but was chosen to contest the 2016 General Election as the Carlow candidate on a Fianna Fáil ticket that also featured sitting TDs John McGuinness and Bobby Aylward (who won the 2015 by-election). Murnane O'Connor polled 12% of the first preference vote this time, and looked set to take the 5th seat ahead of her inter-county rival, Fine Gael's Pat Deering. However, a remarkable sequence of transfers saw Deering re-elected on the 11th count.
Personal life
Jennifer Murnane O'Connor is the daughter of former Carlow County Councillor Jimmy Murnane, who served on the local council for several years. She was co-opted to Carlow Urban District Council in 1999 following her father's retirement. She topped both polls at the following Urban & County Council elections.
Prior to election, she worked in Graham's shoe shop in Carlow town.
References
- ↑ "Oireachtas News". Oireachtas Éireann. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- ↑ "Jennifer Murnane-O'Connor". The Journal.ie. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
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