Lynn Boylan

Boylan was born in Dublin on 29 November 1976,^[5] and grew up in the Kilnamanagh area of Tallaght.^[6] Initially studying journalism and gaining a certificate, she went on to earn post-graduate qualifications from University College Dublin in Environmental Impact Assessment and European Environmental Conservation Management.^[6]

In 2005, Boylan moved to County Kerry while working as a coordinator for the Irish Wildlife Trust at Killarney National Park. That same year she joined Sinn Féin.

Under her Irish-language name Lynn Ní Bhaoighealláin,^[7] she stood at the 2007 general election as the Sinn Féin candidate in the Kerry South constituency.^[8] With only 3.5% of the first-preference votes, she was eliminated on the first count.^[8] At the 2009 local elections, she stood for the Killarney local electoral area of Kerry County Council, but was again unsuccessful.^[7] She attributed her defeats to being an outsider: "As a Dub in Kerry the odds were stacked against me", she told The Irish Times in 2014.^[7]

Boylan returned to Dublin in 2011 to work in Ballymun,^[6] for the Global Action Plan, an environmental initiative funded by Ballymun Regeneration.^[9] In 2010, she was appointed as chair of the advisory board of Safefood.^[9]

In September 2013, Boylan was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate for the Dublin constituency at the 2014 European Parliament election.^[10] She then left her job, and as a candidate was paid a wage by Sinn Féin during the campaign.^[7]

Boylan began her campaign "practically anonymous", according to Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams.^[10] By April, Boylan was still described by the Irish Independent newspaper as a "political unknown".^[11] Instead of raising her media profile, Boylan's campaign concentrated on canvassing, mostly door-to-door rather than the busier shopping centres.^[10] Despite the lack of media exposure, by late May the polls showed Boylan in the lead.^[7] In the election on 23 May, Boylan won 23.6% of the first preference votes, and was elected on the third count.^[8] As the election count pointed towards Boylan's win, the Fianna Fáil candidate Mary Fitzpatrick asked: "Who could have said somebody would come from nowhere, no track record in Dublin, and still take the lead and steal the first seat and probably have a surplus?".^[9]

Boylan was a campaigner for the release of Ibrahim Halawa,^[12] an Irish citizen from Firhouse in South Dublin who was imprisoned in Egypt between 2013 and 2017 and was adopted by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience.^[13][14] In March 2015, Boylan described Halawa as an "Irish-speaking, GAA-playing Dublin lad", and asked if the Irish Government would do more if his name was "Paddy Murphy".^[15] In December 2015, Boylan sponsored a motion in the European Parliament calling Halawa's release. She introduced his two sisters to the Parliament before the vote, which passed by over 560 votes to 11.^[13]

She lost her seat at the 2019 European Parliament election.

In December 2023, it was announced that Boylan would run for the European Parliament again in 2024, alongside Daithí Doolan.^[16] On 11 June 2024, Boylan was elected to the European Parliament as MEP for Dublin, taking the third seat of four.^[3] She took office on 17 July 2024.^[17]

In 2025, the Israeli Interior Ministry barred Boylan and Rima Hassan, another European member of parliament, from entering during a diplomatic EU mission to Jerusalem and Ramallah, leading to the cancellation of the trip.^[18]

Boylan was elected to the Seanad in April 2020 as a Senator for the Agricultural Panel. She was the Sinn Féin candidate at the 2021 Dublin Bay South by-election.^[19] She was not elected, getting 4,245 first-preference votes (15.8%).^[20]

Boylan is the partner of Eoin Ó Broin, who has been the Sinn Féin TD for Dublin Mid-West since 2016.^[21] They live in Clondalkin, County Dublin.