Lorraine Clifford-Lee
Lorraine Clifford-Lee (born 22 September 1981) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as a Senator since June 2020, after being nominated by the Taoiseach, and previously from 2016 to 2020 for the Cultural and Educational Panel.[1][2]
Lorraine Clifford-Lee | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Senator | |
| Assumed office 29 June 2020 | |
| Constituency | Nominated by the Taoiseach |
| In office 27 April 2016 – 27 March 2020 | |
| Constituency | Cultural and Educational Panel |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Lorraine Clifford 22 September 1981 Waterford, Ireland |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Political party | Fianna Fáil |
| Spouse(s) | John Lee (m. 2013) |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | University College Cork |
Early and personal life
Clifford-Lee was born in Waterford in 1981. She studied at University College Cork. She lives in Donabate with her husband John Lee and her daughter and son.[3] Her husband is the political editor of the Irish Mail on Sunday newspaper. She is a self-employed solicitor and is a fluent Irish speaker.[4]
Political career
She was an unsuccessful candidate for the Dublin Fingal constituency at the 2016 general election. She polled 3,359 first preferences and was eliminated on the ninth count.[5]
On her election to the Seanad, she was appointed as the Fianna Fáil Seanad Spokesperson for Justice, Children and Youth Affairs. In November 2018, she was appointed Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Seanad.
Clifford-Lee was a candidate in the 2019 Dublin Fingal by-election to fill the seat vacated following Independents 4 Change's Clare Daly election to the European Parliament in May 2019. At the start of the campaign, Clifford-Lee was forced to apologise for several tweets from 2011, portraying negative and xenophobic attitudes towards travellers and Brazilians.[6] She refused calls to stand down as a candidate, claiming she was the victim of a smear campaign, while Fianna Fáil did not discipline her.[7] She received 18.5% of the first preference votes, coming second, and was eliminated on the final count.[8][9]
She was also an unsuccessful candidate for Dublin Fingal at the 2020 general election.[10][11] She lost her senate seat at the 2020 Seanad election, but was restored to Seanad Éireann by virtue of being nominated by the Taoiseach Micheál Martin, her party leader, in June 2020.[12]
References
- "Lorraine Clifford-Lee". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 20 July 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
- "Taoiseach Micheál Martin announces his 11 Seanad nominees". thejournal.ie. The Journal. Archived from the original on 5 June 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
- McConnell, Daniel (26 September 2015). "Lorraine Clifford Lee added to Fianna Fail ticket in Dublin Fingal". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
- "Election-2016 - Lorraine Clifford-Lee". TheJournal.ie. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
- "Lorraine Clifford Lee". Electionsireland.org. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
- Feehan, Conor (11 November 2019). "Senator apologises for 'Traveller' and 'dwarf' tweets but claims she is victim of smear campaign". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
- "'Very sincere and heartfelt apology': Fianna Fáil's Clifford-Lee has apologised to Traveller organisation for tweets". Journal. 15 November 2019. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
- Kelly, Fiach (30 November 2019). "Dublin Fingal: Joe O'Brien wins Green Party's first ever byelection". Irish Times. Dublin. Archived from the original on 5 June 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
- "Dublin Fingal". Irish Times. Dublin. 30 November 2019. Archived from the original on 5 June 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
- Wall, Martin (10 February 2020) [9 February 2020]. "Dublin Fingal results: SF wave results in high-profile Fine Gael casualty". Irish Times. Dublin. Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
- "Election 2020: Dublin Fingal". Irish Times. Dublin. 10 February 2020. Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
- Kelly, Fiach; O'Halloran, Marie. "Nine of Taoiseach's 11 Seanad appointees are women". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2020.