Joan Collins (politician)
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Joan Collins TD |
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| Teachta Dála | |
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Assumed office February 2011 |
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| Constituency | Dublin South-Central |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 1961 (age 55) |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Political party | Independents 4 Change (since 2015) |
| Other political affiliations |
United Left (2013–15) People Before Profit (2007–13) United Left Alliance Socialist Party (1996–2004) |
| Spouse(s) | Dermot Connolly |
| Website | joan-collins |
Joan Collins (born June 1961) is an Irish Independents 4 Change politician. She has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-Central constituency since February 2011.
A post office clerk by profession, Collins was elected to Dublin City Council at the 2004 local elections for the Crumlin-Kimmage local electoral area. She was involved in the Anti-Bin Tax Campaign. She is a former member of the Socialist Party, leaving with her partner, the former secretary of the party, due to a dispute with the party leadership.
Her Community and Workers Action Group joined the People Before Profit Alliance in 2007 and Collins was re-elected as a local councillor under their banner in 2009. While a councillor Collins remained employed as a post office clerk.
As a councillor Collins came to prominence on 27 January 2011 when she confronted Bertie Ahern on camera as he was being interviewed outside Leinster House on the day Ahern retired from politics with a €150,000 a year pension as wages were being cut and taxes increased, with Collins telling the former Taoiseach, "Have you no shame. You've been on the TV there the last few days mouthing out of yourself. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Shame on you. How dare you". Ahern ignored her and dismissed her as someone who had approached him "to try get themselves on television and radio", though Collins later said she had not seen the television cameras. She released a video in which she stated she had been annoyed by "the smug smile on his face and the way he was waffling on as if he hadn't got a care in the world". A year later she said she did not regret her action against Ahern, and said that Fianna Fáil had not approached her about the incident since her election to the Dáil.
Collins successfully contested the 2011 general election for the United Left Alliance, taking 12.9% of the first preference vote. She said the election should have been a referendum on the Finance Bill. In March 2011 due to the dual mandate rule, she was replaced on the city council by her party colleague Pat Dunne.
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