Phil Prendergast

Phil Prendergast
Member of the European Parliament
In office April 2011 – May 2014
Constituency	South
Leader of the Labour Party in the Seanad
In office 8 March 2011 – 25 May 2011
Leader	Eamon Gilmore
Preceded by	Alex White
Succeeded by	Ivana Bacik
Senator
In office July 2007 – April 2011
Constituency	Labour Panel
Personal details
Born	20 September 1959 County Kilkenny, Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Political party	Labour Party (since 2005)
Other political affiliations	Workers and Unemployed Action Group (1999–2005)
Spouse(s)	Ray Prendergast
Children	2
Profession	Former Nurse, Midwife

Phil Prendergast (née Foley; born 20 September 1959) is an Irish former Labour Party politician. She was an S&D Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the South constituency from 2011 to 2014. She was a member of Seanad Éireann from 2007 to 2011.^[1]

Early and private life

Phil Foley was born in County Kilkenny. She was a midwife at South Tipperary General Hospital for more than 20 years, having trained in Waterford Regional Hospital. She is married to Ray Prendergast, a psychiatric nurse, and has two children.

She is a former local branch officer with the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation. She served on its Executive Board in 1994.

Political career

Local

She was elected to Clonmel Borough Council and South Tipperary County Council from 1999 to 2007, where she was elected as originally as a member of the Workers and Unemployed Action Group (WUAG).^[2]

National

She first contested a general election in June 2001 when she contested the by-election on behalf of the WUAG, following the death of Theresa Ahearn. She polled 7,898 first preference votes. She subsequently left the WUAG in June 2005 to join the Labour Party and ran in the 2007 Dáil election. She was not elected at the 2007 general election in the Tipperary South constituency, but was subsequently elected to the Seanad on the Labour Panel.

She caused some controversy within the local Labour Party branch when she tried to nominate a family member to replace her on the council.^[3]

She was previously Labour Party spokesperson on the Older Person and Seanad spokesperson on Health; Art and Sports; and Social and Family Affairs.^[2] She unsuccessfully contested the 2011 general election for Tipperary South, receiving almost 11.0% of the first preference votes.

European

In April 2011, she was selected as the replacement for MEP Alan Kelly who was elected to Dáil Éireann at the 2011 election for Tipperary North.^[4][5][6] She sits on the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection and on the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee. Since becoming a Member of the European Parliament she has spoken 127 times in plenary session and has amended 32 reports.^[7]

She was involved in a controversy with the Labour Party leadership when she became the first member of the parliamentary party to call for the resignation of Health Minister James Reilly following the announcement of the location of primary care health centres in the minister's own constituency.^[8]

She lost her seat at the 2014 European Parliament election.

References

1. "Ms. Phil Prendergast". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
2. "Phil Prendergast". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
3. The appointment was on a temporary basis until a selection convention could take place. "Labour row as senator appoints husband to fill seats". Irish Examiner. 6 September 2007. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
4. "Statutory Declaration" (PDF). Iris Oifigiúil. 15 April 2011.
5. "Phil prepares for Euro role". The Nationalist. 30 March 2011.
6. "Phil Prendergast". European Parliament. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
7. http://www.votewatch.eu/en/phil-prendergast.html
8. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/1003/breaking39.html

External links