| Toiréasa Ferris | |
|---|---|
| Councillor on Kerry County Council | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2003 |
|
| Constituency | Tralee |
| Mayor of Kerry | |
| In office 2005–2006 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Political party | Sinn Féin |
| Alma mater | University of Limerick, Queen's University Belfast |
| Website | http://www.ferrisforeurope.ie/ |
Toiréasa Ferris (born 1980) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician. Her father, Martin Ferris, is a Sinn Féin Teachta Dála (TD) for Kerry North.
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Ferris started her political activism with the party youth wing Ógra Shinn Féin in her native Tralee and in the University of Limerick. In 2005, she became the first female Mayor of Kerry, after earlier becoming the first Sinn Féin Cathaoirleach (Chairperson) of Kerry County Council in 2003.[1][2][3] Co-opted in 2003 to the seat held by her father, Martin Ferris, she was elected to the Kerry County Council in 2004, taking the first of 7 seats. She served as Cathaoirleach of Kerry County Council between 2005–2006. At present, Ferris serves as a full-time Sinn Féin Councillor on Kerry County Council and Tralee Town Council.
On 18 October 2008 she was selected as a candidate in the European Parliament election in 2009 for the South constituency. She was not elected after receiving 13%. However she received 64,671 of the first preference vote double the number of 2004 results and coming third in terms of first preferences.[4] In an article in the weekly newspaper An Phoblacht she gave an analysis of the current direction of the party saying that the party "means nothing" to the bulk of people in the Republic and that there was a perception amongst voters that Sinn Féin was a northern-based party.[5]
In March 2009, she was voted the 7th most beautiful politician in the world by Spain's 20 Minutos newspaper.[6]
In February 2006, she appeared on The Late Late Show and in an interview with Pat Kenny said she could not condemn the killing of Garda Jerry McCabe in Adare in 1996. Ferris stated that “It wouldn’t be fair to condemn one individual action when over 3,000 were killed. I don’t feel I have the right, or that it would be fair to condemn one individual act,” [7] The Pat Kenny Late Late Show interview also caused comment because her "knee-length" skirt hiked up when she crossed her legs. RTÉ was sharply criticised for having their cameras pan her legs and skirt in the middle of the interview and creating a "tabloid" atmosphere and cheapening her appearance. [8]
Fine Gael councillors in Kerry County Council attempted to table a vote of no confidence. However she survived by a wide margin due to the support of Fianna Fáil councillors.[9]
Ferris is currently a part-time tutor in law at Tralee Community College. She lives in Ardfert, County Kerry with her husband Patrick, and their daughter.[10] In 2001, Ferris spent seven months working in Mexico with a local workers' rights group.[11]