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 | Sinn Féin |
| Spouses |
Fiachra Ó hAodha
(m. 1996; died 1997)Nicky Forde
(m. 2012) |
| Children | 3 |
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Liadh Ní Riada (born 28 November 1966) is an Irish politician. She was a member of the Sinn Féin political party. From 2014 to 2019, she served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). This means she represented the South area of Ireland in the European Parliament.
In 2018, Liadh Ní Riada was the Sinn Féin candidate for the Irish presidential election. Since July 2020, she has been working as an officer for the Irish language in the Muskerry Gaeltacht area of County Cork. A Gaeltacht is a place where Irish is the main language spoken.
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About Liadh Ní Riada's Life
Liadh Ní Riada was born in Dublin, Ireland. However, she grew up in County Cork. Her father was a famous composer named Seán Ó Riada. Sadly, he passed away when she was only four years old. Her mother died when Liadh was 10.
Today, she lives in Ballyvourney, which is in the Muskerry Gaeltacht area of County Cork. She lives there with her second husband, Nicky Forde, and her three daughters. She was married to Fiachra Ó hAodha for 10 months before he passed away in 1997. Liadh Ní Riada is a native Irish speaker, meaning Irish is her first language.
Her Career in Media
Before becoming a politician, Liadh Ní Riada worked in television. She was a producer and director. She even helped set up TG4, which is an Irish language television channel.
She has made and directed many documentaries. For several years, she also ran her own company that made TV shows. Liadh Ní Riada cares a lot about Irish history and culture. She has always spoken up for the rights of the Irish language.
Her Journey into Politics
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, had inspired her to get involved in politics.
Three years later, in 2014, Sinn Féin chose her to run for the European Parliament. She would represent the South constituency in the 2014 European Parliament elections.
Working in the European Parliament
In her 2014 campaign for the European Parliament, Liadh Ní Riada spoke out against "austerity." This means she was against strict government spending cuts. She wanted to create more jobs and stop people from having to leave Ireland to find work.
During her campaign, she also talked about the increase in child poverty in Ireland. She also stressed the need to improve rural areas. She received a lot of votes and was elected as an MEP.
As an MEP, Liadh Ní Riada worked on three important committees:
- Budgets (about money and spending)
- Culture and Education (about arts, languages, and learning)
- Fisheries (about fishing and oceans)
On the Culture and Education committee, she pointed out what she called "language discrimination" in the European Union. She also showed how hard it can be for artists to make a living. From 2017, she was part of a group that watched how Brexit (the UK leaving the EU) affected culture and education.
On the Fisheries Committee, she asked for a "fairer deal" for Irish fishermen. She believed that Irish fisheries were not getting their fair share of fishing rights. Liadh Ní Riada also worked to reduce plastic pollution, especially in the oceans.
She lost her seat in the 2019 European Parliament election.
Running for President in 2018
On 16 September 2018, Sinn Féin chose Liadh Ní Riada to run in the Irish presidential election that year. The party felt that people in Ireland wanted political and social changes.
Liadh Ní Riada's campaign focused on a few key ideas:
- Promoting the Irish language
- Working towards a united Ireland
- Achieving social justice (fairness for everyone)
She also said that if she became president, she would cut the presidential salary in half. She also promised to serve only one term as president. During her campaign, she mentioned she would wear a remembrance poppy to remember those who died in the First World War.
In the election held on 26 October 2018, Liadh Ní Riada received 6.38% of the first votes.
