Verona Murphy (born 1970/1971) is an Irish independent politician who has been Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann since 2024, and a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wexford constituency since 2020.[2] Originally from the Ramsgrange area of County Wexford, Murphy was involved in the road haulage business before unsuccessfully standing for election, as a Fine Gael candidate, in the 2019 Dáil by-election in Wexford. After being de-selected by Fine Gael, she stood and was elected as an independent TD at the 2020 and 2024 general elections.
Verona Murphy | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Murphy in 2024 | |
| Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann | |
| Assumed office 18 December 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Seán Ó Fearghaíl |
| Teachta Dála | |
| Assumed office February 2020 | |
| Constituency | Wexford |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1970 or 1971 (age 53–54)[1] Ramsgrange, County Wexford, Ireland |
| Political party | Independent |
| Other political affiliations | Fine Gael (until 2020) |
| Domestic partner | Joe Druhan |
| Children | 1 |
| Alma mater | Institute of Technology, Carlow |
Early life
One of 11 children, Murphy was born and raised in Ramsgrange by parents who were farmers and livestock dealers.[3] She dropped out of school at 15 to pursue work,[4] before moving to England, where she worked at a Vauxhall Motors factory by day and a McDonald's franchise by night.[3][5] She then returned to Ireland and bought her first truck and trailer at the age of 21.[6] She later returned to education, doing her Leaving Certificate at 35[6] and graduating with a BA in law from Institute of Technology, Carlow.[7]
Murphy ran a haulage firm, Drumur Transport, with her partner Joseph Druhan.[8] The business closed in 2021.[9] She was elected as the president of the Irish Road Haulage Association in 2015,[10] the second woman to hold the position.[5] In 2018, the Workplace Relations Committee ruled against Murphy in finding that she had penalised an office worker in her 60s who had raised allegations of bullying against her, in her role as president of the Irish Road Haulage Association. The WRC ordered the IRHA to pay €20,000 compensation to the complainant.[11] Following her election to the Dáil, Murphy stepped down as president of the association.[12]
Murphy has one child, a daughter she had at the age of 22.[6][13]
Political career
2019 Wexford by-election
She was selected as the Fine Gael candidate for the November 2019 Wexford by-election, which was called after the election of Mick Wallace to the European Parliament.[14] During the by-election campaign, Murphy made remarks supporting Noel Grealish's attempts to block a direct provision centre being created in Oughterard, County Galway, and suggested that immigrants coming to Ireland were being "infiltrated by ISIS" and would need to be "deprogrammed".[15] She claimed that immigrants as young as "three or four years old" were a danger because of ISIS brainwashing and that ISIS is a "big part" of the migrant population in Ireland.[16][17]
These remarks were criticised by the Irish Refugee Council and by members of opposition parties in the Dáil.[15] Murphy subsequently apologised for her remarks and issued a statement, stating "This was a very poor choice of words and I am very sorry to anyone who was offended by them. People coming here fleeing persecution deserve to be treated with compassion and respect. They need to be given opportunities to forge a new start for themselves and their families. That is why we have direct provision: to provide board and lodging to people seeking asylum".[15]
However, following the apology, Murphy released a campaign video on YouTube in which she claimed that she had been "the victim of “character assassination in the media". This prompted the leader of Fine Gael and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to comment directly on Murphy, stating the video was "bizarre" and "not party-approved".[18] Several other top-ranking members of Fine Gael were also disturbed by her campaign, including Tánaiste Simon Coveney, who stated that Murphy's comments were wrong, and her choice of language about migrants was not acceptable.[19] Murphy refused to participate in any of the by-election debates or panel discussions during the campaign.[20] Fine Gael stated it was aware of allegations against Murphy of workplace bullying before the campaign began.[21]
On election day, Murphy received 9,543 (23.8%) first preference votes and was eliminated on the fourth count, in third place behind Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) and George Lawlor (Labour).[22] Despite the defeat, Murphy insisted on election day that she would be Fine Gael's candidate in the 2020 general election.[22]
Removal from Fine Gael ticket
In December 2019, Fine Gael de-selected Murphy as a candidate for the 2020 general election, as a result of her behaviour during the November by-election.[23] When asked again about Murphy after the by-election, Leo Varadkar stated "quite frankly I'm glad she didn't get elected" and remarked; "What was done subsequently in terms of the video she did which sort of tried to imply the whole thing was a media character assassination attempt on her – I had a big problem with that because maybe it suggested to me that the apology and retraction wasn't fully sincere." Furthermore, Varadkar declared that it had been a "mistake" by Fine Gael to select Murphy as a candidate, a mistake for which he took responsibility.[24]
Following her de-selection, Murphy left Fine Gael.
Independent TD
In the 2020 general election, Murphy was elected as an independent TD in the Wexford constituency.[25][26][27]
In November 2021 Murphy was accused of spreading anti-vax information in the Dáil by health minister Stephen Donnelly after Murphy stated studies had shown "that a vaccinated person is every bit as likely to transmit this virus as a non-vaccinated person". Murphy stated she was not "anti-vax" and had been vaccinated herself, but believed the choice to take vaccinations was up to the individual.[28][29]
In February 2024, Murphy confirmed that she would run a team of candidates as part of the newly formed Wexford Independent Alliance at the 2024 Wexford County Council election.[30][31] The alliance ran 12 candidates and five were elected to Wexford County Council.[32]
Murphy was re-elected at the 2024 general election, topping the poll with 21.6% of first-preference votes and being elected on the first count.[33]
Ceann Comhairle
On 18 December 2024, she was elected to the position of Ceann Comhairle of the 34th Dáil. She is the first woman to ever hold the office.[34][35]
References
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