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Lorraine Higgins

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Lorraine Higgins
Senator
In office
May 2011 – April 2016
ConstituencyNominated by the Taoiseach
Personal details
Born (1979-08-03) 3 August 1979 (age 45)
Galway, Ireland
Political partyLabour Party
Alma materNUI Galway

Lorraine Higgins (born 3 August 1979) is an Irish barrister, entrepreneur, diplomat and a former Labour Party politician who represented the party in the 24th Seanad after being nominated by the Taoiseach Enda Kenny.[1] From Galway, she is a graduate of NUI Galway (acquiring a B.A. from the university in 2001)[2] and, later, the King's Inns.[3] During her time there she was Labour Party Seanad spokesperson on Reform and Foreign Affairs.

Career

She ran as a candidate in the Galway East constituency at the 2011 general election. In May 2011, she was nominated by the Taoiseach Enda Kenny to the 24th Seanad.[4]

Higgins was a candidate for the Labour Party in the Midlands–North-West constituency for the 2014 European Parliament election but failed to take a seat during one of the worst elections for the Party. She did, however, get the most Party votes in all the constituencies they contested.[citation needed]

She unsuccessfully contested the 2016 Irish general election for the Galway East constituency.[5]

She was not selected for re-appointment to the 25th Seanad. Higgins complained about how "regrettable" it was that more women were not included in the parliamentary party. She was quoted as saying: "For me it was the last throw of the dice and I probably won't be involved in representative politics again".[6]

In March 2017, Higgins became employed as Head of Public Affairs and Communications and as a board member with Retail Excellence. She was promoted to the position of CEO in July 2018.[7].

She subsequently founded leading digital representative body, Digital Business Ireland, and Dublin-based consultancy company, Rockwood Public Affairs. She was appointed to the position of Honorary Consul of the Slovak Republic in 2019.

2015 threats and harassment

During the summer of 2015, a man named Stephen French of Walkinstown sent her messages involving violent and anti-Semitic content, saying that he "will watch her bleed" and that he is "going to blow her fucking Jew nose right off".[8] In the aftermath of the incidents, French was spared from serving time in jail and given a suspended six-month sentence after his guilty plea to three charges of threatening Higgins and two charges of harassing her.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Lorraine Higgins". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 8 November 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  2. ^ "Alumni events: Dublin alumni club". Cois Coiribe. Winter 2015. Archived from the original on 22 November 2017.
  3. ^ "Lorraine Higgins". Labour Party. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  4. ^ Edwards, Elaine (20 May 2011). "McAleese appointed to Seanad". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  5. ^ "Galway East results: Ciarán Cannon set to be elected". The Irish Times. 27 February 2016.
  6. ^ Minihan, Mary (18 March 2016). "Ó Ríordáin and Humphreys selected by Labour for Seanad elections". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  7. ^ "Who We Are?". Retail Excellence. Archived from the original on 3 April 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  8. ^ Pheland, Andrew; Schiller, Robin (10 January 2018). "'I will watch you bleed' - internet troll spared jail despite vile death threats against senator". Independent.ie. Archived from the original on 10 January 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  9. ^ Hanley, Valerie (14 January 2018). "Mother of Online Troll Who Sent Death Threats to Senator: 'I've Cut Off Out internet'". extra.ie. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
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