TAOISEACH Micheál Martin this week announced former Limerick Chamber CEO Dee Ryan among his nominees to Seanad Éireann.
The newly-appointed Senator Ryan, who finished third in last June’s inaugural mayoral election, and ran as a Fianna Fáil candidate in November’s eeneral election, was named as one of Martin’s 11 nominees to the Seanad.
Hailing from Castleconnell, Ms Ryan attended Castleconnell National School, followed by Laurel Hill Secondary School. She studied business at University of Limerick before then establishing SME Spark Marketing in the city centre.
Ryan was appointed to CEO at Limerick Chamber in 2018, before stepping down for her mayoral run last year, and has since represented the business community on various boards and two government task-forces, including the Implementation Advisory Group for the mayoral position.
A mother of four, Ms Ryan steered Limerick Chamber during the tumultuous Covid period, when the business community was plunged into grave uncertainty overnight.
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On her appointment this week, she told the Limerick Post she is “deeply honoured and humbled” to have been appointed by An Taoiseach to the Upper House.
“I’m over the moon to be nominated to represent the party and the people of Limerick in the 27th Seanad,” she said.
“I want to thank everybody that’s been with me on this journey — my family, my friends, my incredible campaign team, to everybody who works tirelessly alongside me and canvassed with me. I really appreciate your support and I am so grateful for this opportunity to contribute to our country’s future.
“I am honoured to be nominated by An Taoiseach Micheál Martin. I’m incredibly grateful to him for placing his trust in me and giving me this opportunity to contribute to Limerick’s and our country’s future.
“I’m committed to working for the people of Limerick to ensure that we have a strong representation pushing for delivery on the issues most important to us including the trolley crisis in University Hospital Limerick, the need for affordable housing, and childcare.”
Senator Ryan said she intends “to use my platform as a Senator to ensure a lasting impact on these issues for the people of Limerick, and I look forward to working with party, and cross-party colleagues both in government and in the Seanad to deliver.”
The Fianna Fáil woman joins Limerick’s Joanne Collins (SF) and Maria Byrne (FG) in the Seanad.
Micheál Martin was to advise the President to convene the first meeting of the new Senate this Wednesday (February 12).
