Paul Murphy (Irish politician)
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Paul Murphy | |
|---|---|
 Murphy in 2016 | |
| Teachta Dála | |
| Assumed office October 2014 | |
| Constituency | Dublin South-West |
| Member of the European Parliament | |
| In office 6 April 2011 – 24 May 2014 | |
| Constituency | Dublin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 13 April 1983 Dublin, Ireland |
| Party | |
| Other political affiliations | Socialist Party (2001–2019) |
| Domestic partner | Jess Spear[1] |
| Children | 1 |
| Alma mater | University College Dublin |
Paul Murphy (born 13 April 1983) is an Irish People Before Profit–Solidarity politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-West constituency since the 2014 Dublin South-West by-election.[2] He served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Dublin constituency from 2011 to 2014.[3]
He was previously a member of the Socialist Party and Solidarity, but left in September 2019 to form a new party, RISE.[4][5] In February 2021, RISE joined People Before Profit as a network, and Murphy became a TD for the party.
Murphy grew up in Goatstown, a suburb of Dublin. His father Kieran Murphy was a senior manager at the Irish division of Mars. His uncle Michael Murphy was a journalist and broadcaster at RTÉ. His family is originally from Castlebar, County Mayo.[6][7] He attended St Kilian's German School in Clonskeagh and later studied for the Leaving Certificate at the Institute of Education, before going on to graduate from University College Dublin with a degree in law in 2004. He joined the Socialist Party in 2001. In 2004, he ran unsuccessfully for President of the UCD Students' Union.[8] Murphy also worked in the European Parliament as a political advisor to the MEP Joe Higgins.
A 2008 short film described him as a full-time activist for the Socialist Party. It followed his involvement in protests against cutbacks at Tallaght Hospital, during the Irish financial crisis.[9] He was also active in Free Education for Everyone, a group that campaigned against the reintroduction of fees for third-level education in Ireland.[10] In 2009, he worked on a PhD thesis titled Does socialist law exist?.[11]
He was a member of the Socialist Party National Committee from 2001 and the National Executive Committee until 2010.[12]
Murphy's partner is Jess Spear, a member of South Dublin County Council, and their first child was born in 2023. Their child will be raised gender neutral.[13]
European Parliament: 2011–2014
Murphy replaced Joe Higgins in the European Parliament after Higgins was elected to Dáil Éireann at the 2011 general election.[14] Murphy sat as a full member on the European Parliament Committee on International Trade and as a substitute on the Employment and Social Affairs and Petitions committees. He was also a full member of the South Asia delegation and a substitute on the Central Asia delegation.
In 2011, Murphy participated in Freedom Flotilla II, which attempted to breach Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip.[15] In August 2011, he visited the "No TAV" Italian campaign against the Turin–Lyon high-speed railway.[16] A supporter of the Shell to Sea campaign, in August 2011, he and others were forcibly removed from a protest by Gardaí. A complaint was submitted to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission alleging unreasonable use of force.[17] In early November 2011, Murphy was reported to be part of another Gaza flotilla described as a humanitarian mission.[18] Israeli forces boarded the ship on 4 November and imprisoned Murphy and all the other activists on board, with one of them saying this was carried out in a "violent and dangerous" manner.[19][20] Israel deported Murphy on 11 November.[21]
In 2012, Murphy set up the website ScamBridge.org for people wishing to share their experiences of the government's JobBridge scheme.[22] In June 2013, he travelled to Istanbul, Turkey, to speak with activists participating in the Gezi Park protests.[23] In 2013 while discussing the Israel-Palestine conflict, Murphy argued that "Palestinians have a right to defend themselves against that aggression and that may involve armed defence against soldiers".[24]
Murphy stood for re-election at the 2014 European Parliament election, at which he lost his seat.[25] During the campaign he put his election posters on display before the official campaign start date, a move which risked fines of up to €150,000. He said "people wouldn't be bothered" and defended the move as a response to Fianna Fáil candidate Mary Fitzpatrick, who had also put up her posters early.[26] Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council and South Dublin County Council forced him to remove them.[27] During the campaign, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) upheld a complaint against the Irish state broadcaster RTÉ which excluded Murphy from a report on the findings of a Sunday Business Post/Red C opinion poll on a news programme which they aired on 3 May 2014.[28]
