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Averil Power

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Averil Power
Senator
In office
25 May 2011 – 8 June 2016
ConstituencyIndustrial and Commercial Panel
Personal details
Born (1978-07-26) 26 July 1978 (age 46)
Raheny, Dublin, Ireland
Political partyIndependent (since 2015)
Other political
affiliations		Fianna Fáil (until 2015)
SpouseFionnán Sheahan
Alma mater
Websiteaverilpower.ie

Averil Power (born 26 July 1978) is an Irish former politician who served as a senator for the Industrial and Commercial Panel from 2011 to 2016.[1][2] She first held office as a member of Fianna Fáil, but left the party in 2015 and sat in the Seanad as an independent for the rest of her term. She stood as an independent candidate for Dáil Éireann at the 2016 general election, but was not elected.

Early life

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She grew up in a council estate and was the first person in her family to finish school and go to college.[3]

She has a degree in business, economics and social science from Trinity College Dublin, where she was elected to the positions of President (2001–2002) and Education Officer (2000–2001) of Trinity College Dublin Students' Union.[4] She also has a Diploma in Legal Studies from King's Inns and is a graduate of the Boston College Political Leadership Programme.[5] She unsuccessfully contested election for President of the Union of Students in Ireland in March 2002, losing out to DIT student Colm Jordan.[6]

Political career

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2009–2011

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Power first sought election to public office at the 2009 local elections, contesting for Fianna Fáil in the Howth–Malahide local electoral area of Fingal County Council. She was unsuccessful, coming seventh with 7.5% of the vote.[7] During this period she was employed as a political adviser by Minister Mary Hanafin in the Departments of Tourism, Social and Family Affairs and Education on a salary reported to be €100,191 per year plus pension contribution.[8][9][10][11] She remained a political adviser to Hanafin until the 2011 general election.[12]

2011–2015

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In February 2011, before the general election, Fianna Fáil Leader Micheál Martin appointed Power directly to his Front Bench, in doing so breaking the convention that members of the Front Bench hold elected office.[13] Power contested the Dublin North-East constituency at the 2011 general election but was not elected. In a three-seat constituency, she polled fourth on the first count, receiving 4,794 first preference votes (11.5%).[14]

In March 2011, Micheál Martin nominated Power via the Oireachtas sub-panel to contest the 2011 Seanad election on the Industrial and Commercial Panel.[15] She was elected, polling 75 votes.[16]

2015–present

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On 25 May 2015, Power left Fianna Fáil, citing disagreements over how they had handled the same-sex marriage referendum. Power believed that Fianna Fáil did not sufficiently support the Yes campaign.[17][18]

In December 2015, Power caused controversy when it emerged she had used taxpayers money to print 73,000 calendars that were to be distributed throughout her constituency just weeks before the 2016 general election.[19]

She contested the 2016 general election in the newly created Dublin Bay North constituency as an independent candidate.[20] She was again unsuccessful. She also contested the 2016 Seanad election for Dublin University.

In August 2016, the Asthma Society of Ireland announced that Power was taking up a €95,000 a year position as the charity's chief executive officer.[21] In January 2018, she was appointed as the CEO of the Cancer Society of Ireland.[22]

Interests

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Power is interested in education, social justice, mental health and LGBT equality. She was awarded a GALA for 'Politician of the Year' by the National LGBT Federation in 2014.[23] She also produced policy papers on youth mental health[24] and increasing female representation in politics.[25]

She has talked about being an adopted person and wants all Irish adoptees to have a right to their birth certs.[26] She has an interest in development issues and volunteered in Mozambique with Voluntary Service Overseas in August 2011.[27] She also visited the Occupied Palestinian territories with Christian Aid in 2013 and is a vocal advocate of the rights of the Palestinian people. She proposed a motion recognizing the State of Palestine which was passed by the Irish Senate in October 2014.[28] She is a Jury member for the global Frontline Defenders human rights awards.[29]

Personal life

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She is married to Fionnán Sheahan, who edits the Irish Independent.[30][31][32][33]

On 23 October 2014, a man in California named Jeremy David Hanson sent Power a threatening email. The man later stated to FBI investigators that he regretted sending the email.[34]

References

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  1. ^ "Averil Power". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  2. ^ "Senators elected to the new Seanad". RTÉ News. 29 April 2011. Archived from the original on 1 May 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  3. ^ "A new voice, working for the people of Dublin North East". Fianna Fáil. Archived from the original on 17 May 2011.
  4. ^ "Discrepancies in TCD Exams". Irish Independent, February 07, 2001; P: 4.
  5. ^ "Linkedin Averil Power".
  6. ^ "New Leader for Students' Union". Irish Independent, March 21, 2002; P: 43.
  7. ^ "Local Elections 2009". Elections Ireland. Archived from the original on 25 May 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  8. ^ "Teacher's Pet". The Irish Times. 27 March 2012. Archived from the original on 19 June 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  9. ^ "Advisers to Minister Mary Hanafin". Sunday Independent, December 20, 2009; P: 1.
  10. ^ "Taxpayer to foot €10m wages bill for advisers". Sunday Independent, July 27, 2008; P1.
  11. ^ Appointment of Special Adviser (Department of Education and Science) Order 2004 (S.I. No. 797 of 2004). Signed on 7 December 2004. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 21 February 2022.; Appointment of Special Adviser (Department of Education and Science) Order 2007 (S.I. No. 585 of 2007). Signed on 25 July 2007. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 21 February 2022.; Appointment of Special Adviser (Minister for Social and Family Affairs) Order 2008 (S.I. No. 373 of 2008). Signed on 8 July 2008. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 21 February 2022.; Appointment of Special Adviser (Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport) Order 2010 (S.I. No. 482 of 2010). Signed on 1 June 2010. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 21 February 2022.
  12. ^ "FF draws up shortlist as Woods bows out". Irish Independent, January 07, 2011; Section: News.
  13. ^ "Martin stands by his promotion of 14 rookies to new-look frontbench". Irish Independent, Tuesday, February 01, 2011; Section: News.
  14. ^ "Averil Power". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 25 March 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  15. ^ "Martin plans purge of older senators to freshen party image". Irish Independent, March 02, 2011; P1.
  16. ^ "Industrial and Commercial Panel". Elections Ireland. Archived from the original on 24 May 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  17. ^ "Fianna Fáil's Averil Power to leave party". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 14 March 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  18. ^ "Averil Power quits Fianna Fáil party". RTÉ News. 25 May 2015. Archived from the original on 25 May 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  19. ^ "Averil Power: €2.7k print run of 73,000 calendars 'nothing to do with the election'". 23 December 2015. Archived from the original on 5 April 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  20. ^ "Irish Times: 2016 Election results for Dublin Bay North". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 1 March 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  21. ^ "Averil Power rules out running in next general election". 12 August 2016. Archived from the original on 19 February 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  22. ^ "Our leadership". 29 October 2019. Archived from the original on 9 December 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  23. ^ "GALA". Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  24. ^ "Fianna Fail National Youth Mental Health Strategy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 December 2014.
  25. ^ "Fianna Fail Gender Equality Plan 2013-2018". Archived from the original on 9 December 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  26. ^ O'Brien, Carl (4 November 2014). "New law would give adopted right to birth cert. Senator Averil Power says adoptees have been 'robbed of their identities' for too long". The Irish Times. Dublin. ISSN 0791-5144. Archived from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  27. ^ "Averil to spend summer recess in Mozambique". Fingal Independent. 3 August 2011. Archived from the original on 10 September 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  28. ^ "Irish Times : Seanad Motion Urging Recognition for State of Palestine Agreed". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  29. ^ "Front Line Defenders facebook post". Facebook. Archived from the original on 8 August 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  30. ^ "Miriam Lord's Week". The Irish Times. 2 April 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2012.[dead link‍]
  31. ^ "INM appoints new editors". 9 January 2015.
  32. ^ "Averil Power launches scathing attack on Fianna Fáil as she quits party". TheJournal.ie. 25 May 2015.
  33. ^ "Enda's 'Independent' Senator?". ThePhoenix.ie. 18 May 2016.
  34. ^ Anderson, Casey Hunter (12 April 2022), Criminal Complaint in the case of United States of America v. Jeremy David Hanson (PDF) (This is a criminal complaint filed by FBI Special Agent Casey Hunter Anderson in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts in the criminal case of United States of America v. Jeremy David Hanson. In 2022, Hanson was charged with threatening Merriam-Webster for including new gender-based terminology in its dictionary. Hanson's email to Power is cited in the complaint.), p. 6, retrieved 16 October 2022
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