Senator
Lynn Ruane
Senator
Assumed office
8 June 2016
ConstituencyDublin University
Personal details
Born (1984-10-20) 20 October 1984
Tallaght, Dublin, Ireland
Political partyIndependent
Other political
affiliations		Civil Engagement group
Children2, including Jordanne Jones
Alma materTrinity College Dublin
Websitelynnruane.ie

Lynn Ruane (born 20 October 1984) is an Irish politician who has served as an Independent Senator for the Dublin University constituency in Seanad Éireann since April 2016.[1] She was the President of the Trinity College Dublin Students' Union from 2015 to 2016.

Early life

Ruane grew up in Tallaght; she became a single mother and left school aged 15.[2] After returning to education via An Cosán,[3] she studied addiction and helped to develop local services for drug users.[2]

University politics

In 2012, she completed a foundation programme to allow access to a degree programme at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), and studied politics and philosophy.[2] Having spent a year representing student parents on the Trinity College Dublin Students' Union executive, she was elected as the union's president on 12 February 2015,[4] which gained national attention.[5][6] As president, she was active in the fossil fuel divestment campaign at TCD,[7] and the campaign to repeal the Eighth Amendment.[8]

National politics

In December 2015, Ruane announced her intention to contest the 2016 Seanad election in the Dublin University constituency as an independent candidate.[9] She was elected to represent Trinity graduates in the Oireachtas on the 15th and final count, unseating incumbent Sean Barrett.[10][11] She was re-elected at the 2020 Seanad election, reaching the quota on the eighth count.

In the 25th Seanad, Ruane sits with the Civil Engagement group; an alliance of independent senators seeking to bring civil society expertise and experience into the Oireachtas.

In May 2017, Ruane introduced the Controlled Drugs and Harm Reduction Bill to the Seanad which proposed removing criminal sanctions for minor drug possession.[12][13] In February 2019, Ruane introduced the Criminal Justice (Rehabilitative Periods) Bill to the Seanad which proposed expanding access to spent convictions,[14] where it passed unanimously.[15] She has subsequently been referred to as "a long-time campaigner for drug reform in Ireland."[16] She and Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan have called for a citizens' assembly on drugs.[17] Ruane asserts that drug prohibition has never worked and in 2021 signed an open letter by over 100 Irish youth workers and former youth workers calling for an end to drug prohibition and the legal regulation of drugs in Ireland. The letter has also been signed by senator Eileen Flynn.[18][19]

She was vice-chair of the special Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment, which was established to examine the repeal of Ireland's constitutional ban on abortion and recommend the legal grounds to access an abortion in Ireland.[20]

Miriam Lord of The Irish Times named Ruane her 2016 Senator of the Year.[21]

Personal life

In 2016, Ruane played a juror on the TV3 historical courtroom drama Trial of the Century.[22][23]

In September 2018, Ruane published a memoir entitled People Like Me.[24][25] The memoir reached number one on the Irish paperback non-fiction charts and won the 2018 An Post Irish Book Award for best non-fiction.[26][27] She was also a contributor to the collection of memoirs and essays called The 32: An Anthology of Irish Working-Class Voices.[28][29][30]

Ruane's daughter Jordanne Jones is a DFCC award-winning and IFTA nominated actress.[31][32]

In 2022, Ruane launched a podcast of which she is the presenter called Conversations on the Margins.[33]

Bibliography

  • People Like Me (Gill Books, ISBN 9780717180189, published September 2018)

References

  1. ↑ "Lynn Ruane". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 17 June 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 O'Brien, Carl (5 January 2016). "Lynn Ruane: Aspiring Senator's crusading zeal for social justice". The Irish Times. Dublin. Archived from the original on 25 January 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  3. ↑ "Senator Lynn Ruane Encourages Early School Leavers to Return to Education". aontas.com. Archived from the original on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  4. ↑ Baker, Sinead (13 February 2015). "Lynn Ruane Elected TCD SU President". University Times. Archived from the original on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  5. ↑ Humphreys, Joe. "Single mother who left school at 15 elected TCD SU president". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  6. ↑ "Early school leaver becomes Trinity's new Student Union president". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 22 November 2018. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  7. ↑ "Campaign to Push Trinity to Divest from €6 million in Oil Assets". universitytimes.ie. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  8. ↑ "The Indomitable Student Voices of the Repeal Movement". universitytimes.ie. Archived from the original on 3 September 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  9. ↑ "Lynn Ruane to Run for Seanad". universitytimes.ie. Archived from the original on 1 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  10. ↑ O'Halloran, Marie; Collins, Stephen (27 April 2016). "Former justice minister Michael McDowell wins Seanad seat". The Irish Times. Dublin. Archived from the original on 28 April 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  11. ↑ Ryan, Charlotte (27 April 2016). "Lynn Ruane Defeats Barrett on Fifteenth Count to Secure Third TCD Panel Seat". University Times. Archived from the original on 28 April 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  12. ↑ "Lynn Ruane Introduces Drug Decriminalisation Bill In Seanad". lynnruane.ie. Archived from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  13. ↑ Oireachtas, Houses of the (31 May 2017). "Controlled Drugs and Harm Reduction Bill 2017: Second Stage". oireachtas.ie. Archived from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  14. ↑ "Senator Lynn Ruane Launches Spent Convictions Reform". lynnruane.ie. Archived from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  15. ↑ "Bill to expand spent convictions regime approved by Senators at second stage". Irish Legal News. Archived from the original on 19 February 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  16. ↑ McGrath, Dominic (2 January 2022). "Growing expectation of Irish citizens' assembly on drug use this year". The Independent. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  17. ↑ Cunningham, Paul. "Proposal for Citizens' Assembly on bioversity before Cabinet 'shortly'". Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  18. ↑ Ruane, Lynn (22 January 2022). "Prohibition has never worked anywhere, and it never will". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  19. ↑ Freyne, Patrick (3 July 2021). "Legalising drugs: 'Drug use should be treated as normal adult behaviour'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  20. ↑ O'Connell, Hugh. "State to pay for abortion surgery if ban scrapped". businesspost.ie. Archived from the original on 3 September 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  21. ↑ Lord, Miriam. "Miriam Lord's Awards: Winners of this year's political gongs". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 3 September 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  22. ↑ Finn, Christina. "Lynn Ruane: 'I never had a desire to move into politics'". TheJournal.ie. Archived from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  23. ↑ "WATCH: Tom Vaughan Lawlor and Mark Huberman in extended clip of 'Trial of the Century'". independent. Archived from the original on 20 February 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  24. ↑ "People Like Me P/B Lynn Ruane". easons.com. Archived from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  25. ↑ Freyne, Patrick (15 September 2018). "Lynn Ruane: 'Having a baby at 15 stopped me when I could have begun to use heroin'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  26. ↑ O'Loughlin, Vanessa (28 September 2018). "Irish Bestsellers 22nd September 2018". Writing.ie. Archived from the original on 12 December 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  27. ↑ "An Post Irish Book Awards – 2018 Awards". Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  28. ↑ Lee, Jenny (24 July 2021). "Celebrating Ireland's working-class writers in The 32". The Irish News. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  29. ↑ McVeigh, Paul (23 March 2020). "Are you a new or emerging writer from a working-class background?". The Irish Times. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  30. ↑ Brennan, Marjorie (24 February 2020). "Why Paul McVeigh is providing an outlet for working-class voices". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  31. ↑ "Films of 2015: Dublin Film Critics Circle weigh in". Scannain. 22 December 2015. Archived from the original on 24 December 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  32. ↑ Hynes, Liadan (18 May 2015). "Meet Jordanne Jones – nominated for Best Actress IFTA at just 14". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 9 May 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  33. ↑ Butler, Jonathan (6 June 2022). "Lynn Ruane's new podcast series examines life behind prison walls". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
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