Averil Power
| Averil Power | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Senator | |
|
In office April 2011 – April 2016 |
|
| Constituency | Industrial and Commercial Panel |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
26 July 1978 Dublin, Ireland |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Political party | Independent (since May 2015) |
| Other political affiliations |
Fianna Fáil |
| Spouse(s) | Fionnan Sheahan |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Dublin |
| Website | www |
Averil Power (born 26 July 1978) is an Irish politician. While in Fianna Fáil she was elected to the 24th Seanad in April 2011 by the Industrial and Commercial Panel. From 2011 until 2015 she was Fianna Fáil's Seanad spokesperson on Education and Skills. Then she fell out with them and went independent.
She grew up in a council estate and is the first person in her family to finish school and go to college.
She has a degree in Business, Economics and Social Science from Trinity College, Dublin, where she was elected to the positions of President (2001–02) and Education Officer (2000–01) of Trinity College Dublin Students' Union. She also has a Diploma in Legal Studies from Honorable Society of Kings Inns and is a graduate of the Boston College Political Leadership Programme. She unsuccessfully contested election for President of the Union of Students in Ireland in March 2002, losing out to DIT student Colm Jordan.
Power first sought election to public office at the 2009 local and European elections, contesting election for Fianna Fáil in the Howth-Malahide local electoral area of Fingal County Council. She was unsuccessful, coming seventh with 7.46% of the vote. 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. She remained a political adviser to Hanafin until the 2011 general election.
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. 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%).
...
Wikipedia