European Parliament – History of Sorts

Maria Walsh is an Irish, Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Midlands-North-West. She is a member of Fine Gael, and her European Parliament is the EPP Group. Maria is a member of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL), the Committee on Culture and Education (CULT), and the Delegation for Relations with the United States (D-US). She is also a substitute on the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE). Her current work focuses on mental health, women’s and LGBTQ+ rights, equality, protection of journalists, education, employment, and other topics.

Maria was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and the family moved to Shrule County Mayo, calling it home since 1994. She graduated [2009] from Griffith College Dublin with a BA in Journalism and Visual Media. Her career then developed in television production and creative management, working in Dublin, New York and Philadelphia. Maria competed and became the winner of the 2014 Rose of Tralee. Then, in 2019, she ran for the European Parliament. She supports issues that are important to her constituents.

Biography courtesy of Cróna Esler

Ciaran was first elected to Dublin City Council in 1991. Back then he campaigned for a light rail system for Dublin, and for greater protection of Dublin’s heritage. Since then, He has served as a TD (Irish MP) for Dún Laoghaire, a Minister of State with responsibility for Climate Action, and a councillor for Dublin’s North Inner City. He sits on the European Parliament’s TRAN (Transport and Tourism) and ITRE (Industry, Research and Energy) committees, and is president of EUFORES (European Forum for Renewable Energy Sources). He trained as an architect and urban planner at UCD and the LSE, and he set up an MSc Programme in Urban Regeneration and Development at the Technical University of Dublin (TU Dublin).

He grew up in Shankill and now lives in Stoneybatter with his family. He is proud to serve as Dublin’s Green MEP (Member of the European Parliament) for the term 2019-2024.