Liadh Ní Riada facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Liadh Ní Riada
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Ní Riada in 2017
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| Member of the European Parliament | |
| In office 1 July 2014 – 1 July 2019 |
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| Constituency | South |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 November 1966 Dublin, Ireland |
| Political party | Independent (since 2024) Sinn Féin (until 2024) |
| Spouses |
Fiachra Ó hAodha
(m. 1996; died 1997)Nicky Forde
(m. 2012) |
| Children | 3 |
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| Alma mater |
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Liadh Ní Riada (born 28 November 1966) is an Irish cultural activist. She was also a politician for Sinn Féin. She served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the South area from 2014 to 2019.
Liadh Ní Riada was the Sinn Féin candidate in the 2018 Irish presidential election. As of late 2024, she works as the director of a cultural centre in Ballyvourney, County Cork. She left Sinn Féin after her presidential campaign and became an independent politician.
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Working in Media and Culture
Liadh Ní Riada used to produce and direct television shows. She was part of the group that helped set up TG4. This is Ireland's main Irish-language television channel. She has made many documentaries and ran her own production company for several years.
Ní Riada is very passionate about Irish heritage and culture. She has always spoken up for the rights of the Irish language. In 2020, she was chosen to be a language planning officer. Her job was to encourage people to use Irish more in the Muskerry Gaeltacht area. In 2022, she became the director of a cultural centre in Ballyvourney.
Her Political Journey
Liadh Ní Riada started her political journey in 2011. She joined Sinn Féin as the party's national Irish language officer. Her first husband, Fiachra, inspired her to get involved in politics. In 2014, she was chosen to represent Sinn Féin. She ran for the European Parliament in the South area.
Serving in the European Parliament
In her 2014 campaign for the European Parliament, Liadh Ní Riada spoke out against "austerity." This means she wanted to stop cuts to public spending. She called for more jobs and an end to people having to leave Ireland to find work. She also highlighted the problem of child poverty in Ireland. She wanted to help rural areas grow again.
Ní Riada received many votes and was elected as an MEP. As an MEP, she worked on three important committees. These were the Budgets Committee, the Culture and Education Committee, and the Fisheries Committee.
On the Culture and Education Committee, Ní Riada spoke about "language discrimination" in the EU. She also highlighted the difficulties many artists face to make a living. She worked to monitor how Brexit would affect culture and education.
On the Fisheries Committee, she asked for a "fairer deal" for Irish fishermen. She believed that Irish fisheries were not getting enough fishing rights. Ní Riada also worked to reduce plastic pollution, especially in the oceans.
Running for President in 2018
On 16 September 2018, Sinn Féin chose Liadh Ní Riada to run for president. The party felt that people in Ireland wanted political and social change.
Ní Riada's campaign focused on the Irish language and a united Ireland. She also spoke about social justice. She suggested cutting the presidential salary in half. She also said she would only serve one term if elected. She mentioned she would wear a remembrance poppy to honor those who died in the First World War.
The election was held on 26 October 2018. Liadh Ní Riada received 6.38% of the first votes.
After 2019
Liadh Ní Riada lost her European Parliament seat in the 2019 election. In 2021, Sinn Féin chose her to run for a seat in the Irish parliament (Dáil). However, in 2023, she announced she was leaving politics.
Later, she was nominated to run for the Seanad (the upper house of the Irish parliament). She ran as an independent candidate but was not elected.
