Lynn Boylan

Boylan grew up in the Kilnamanagh area of Tallaght.[3] 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.[3]

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,[4] she stood at the 2007 general election as the Sinn Féin candidate in the Kerry South constituency.[5] With only 3.5% of the first-preference votes, she was eliminated on the first count.[5] At the 2009 local elections, she stood for the Killarney local electoral area of Kerry County Council, but was again unsuccessful.[4] 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.[4]

Boylan returned to Dublin in 2011 to work in Ballymun,[3] for the Global Action Plan, an environmental initiative funded by Ballymun Regeneration.[6] In 2010, she was appointed as chair of the advisory board of Safefood.[6]

In September 2013, Boylan was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate for the Dublin constituency at the European Parliament election in May 2014.[7] She then left her job, and as a candidate was paid a wage by Sinn Féin while she went canvassing three or four times a day.[4]

Boylan began her campaign "practically anonymous", according to Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams.[7] By April, Boylan was still described by the Irish Independent newspaper as a "political unknown".[8] Instead of raising her media profile, Boylan's campaign concentrated on canvassing, mostly door-to-door rather than the busier shopping centres.[7]

Despite the lack of media exposure, by late May the polls showed Boylan in the lead.[4] After voting on 23 May, Boylan won 23.6% of the first preference votes, and was elected on the third count.[5]

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?".[6]

Boylan was a campaigner[9] for the release of Ibrahim Halawa, an Irish citizen from Firhouse in South Dublin who was imprisoned in Egypt between 2013 and 2017[10] and was adopted by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience.[11] 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".[12] 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.[10]

She lost her seat at the 2019 European Parliament election.

Boylan was elected to the Seanad in April 2020 as a Senator for the Agricultural Panel.

Boylan is the partner of Eoin Ó Broin, who has been the Sinn Féin TD for Dublin Mid-West since 2016.[13] They reside in Clondalkin, South Dublin.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lynn Boylan.

• Personal profile of Lynn Boylan in the European Parliament's database of members
• Lynn Boylan's page on the VoteWatch website