Eibhlin Byrne is a former Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...

 politician, and served as Lord Mayor of Dublin

Lord Mayor of Dublin

The Lord Mayor of Dublin is the honorific title of the Chairman of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The incumbent is Labour Party Councillor Andrew Montague. The office holder is elected annually by the members of the...

 from 2008–09.

Byrne has held a number of senior positions including (current) Acting Director of the Daughters of Charity Child and Family Service, Head of Communication and Advocacy at Depaul Trust (Homeless Service) (2003–2006), and Chair of the National Council on Ageing and Older People. She has also worked as a volunteer with the SATU (Sexual Assault Treatment Unit)team from Dublin Rape Crisis Centre. She became Chairperson of Dublin Rape Crisis Centre in 2010.

Byrne began her career as a secondary school teacher and also ran language programmes between Irish students and young people in France, Germany, Spain and Italy.

She was a member of the Dublin City Council

Dublin City Council

Dublin City Council is the local authority for the city of Dublin in Ireland. It has 52 members and is the largest local authority in Ireland. Until 2001, it was known as Dublin Corporation.-Legal status:...

 for the Clontarf

Clontarf, Dublin

Clontarf is a coastal suburb on the northside of Dublin, in Ireland. It is most famous for giving the name to the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, in which Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, defeated the Vikings of Dublin and their allies, the Irish of Leinster. This battle, which extended to districts...

 area from 2003–09 when she was co-opted to replace Sandra Geraghty. She was re-elected in June 2004 for a five year term. She was elected as Lord Mayor in 2008 by Fianna Fáil councillors with the support of councillors from the Labour Party

Labour Party (Ireland)

The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William X. O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. Unlike the other main Irish...

, Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...

 and several Independents. Byrne was previously a member of the City Council's Housing Strategic Policy Group, the Dublin Regional Authority, and the Dublin Bay Task Force. She was also a member of Commissions on Crime and on Ageing in the City.

On 15 April 2009, Byrne was nominated as a Fianna Fáil candidate (along with Eoin Ryan) for the Dublin constituency

Dublin (European Parliament constituency)

Dublin is a constituency of the European Parliament in Ireland. It elects 3 Members of the European Parliament using the single transferable vote form of proportional representation .-History and boundaries:...

 at the 2009 European Parliament election

European Parliament election, 2009 (Ireland)

The 2009 European Parliament election in Ireland was the Irish component of the 2009 European Parliament election and was held on Friday, 5 June 2009, coinciding with the 2009 local elections...

 which was held on 5 June 2009 but she was not elected. Byrne did not stand for re-election to Dublin City Council.

In a personal capacity until 2009 Byrne was a Board member of Console. She was Chairperson of the Visiting Committee for Dóchas Centre

Dóchas Centre

The Dóchas Centre is a closed, medium security prison for females aged 18 years and over located in Mountjoy Prison in Dublin. It is also the committal prison for females committed on remand or sentenced from all Courts outside the Munster area of Ireland.Dóchas is one of two women's prisons in...

 women's prison, at Mountjoy, Dublin until her term ended in 2011.

In 2009, Byrne drew criticism when she suggested it was "unpatriotic" for the Republic's citizens to go shopping in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. Her comments were denounced as "partitionist

Partitionism

In Ireland, partitionism refers to views on Irish politics, culture, geography or history that treat Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland as distinct. Partitionists may emphasise the perceived differences between the two jurisdictions and the people who live within them...

" by Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness

Martin McGuinness

James Martin Pacelli McGuinness is an Irish Sinn Féin politician and the current deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. McGuinness was also the Sinn Féin candidate for the Irish presidential election, 2011. He was born in Derry, Northern Ireland....

.