Lucinda Creighton
Lucinda Creighton - (born 20th January 1980) is an Irish politician. She has been a Teachta Dála for the Dublin South–East constituency since 2007. She served as the Minister of State for European Affairs from March 2011 to July 2013. She sits as an independent TD, having lost the Fine Gael parliamentary party whip in July 2013.
Political Career
While at Trinity College, Creighton was elected Deputy Secretary General of the Youth of the European People's Party. She was elected to Dublin City Council in 2004, aged 24, representing the Pembroke local electoral area. Creighton was elected to Dáil Éireann on her first attempt in the 2007 general election, as its youngest member, the first TD born in the 1980s. She was appointed Fine Gael spokesperson on European Affairs from 2007 to 2010. In October 2010, she was appointed as party deputy spokesperson on Justice with special responsibility for Immigration, Integration and Equality. She played a key role in Fine Gael's campaign for a yes vote in both referendums on the Lisbon Treaty. Creighton was re-elected in February 2011, topping the poll in Dublin South-East. Following Fine Gael's entry into government, she was appointed by Enda Kenny as the Minister of State for European Affairs. During her time as minister, Creighton visited every EU member, candidate and aspiring country at least once, and represented the government at meetings and conferences such as the Croatia Summit in July 2012, the EU–ASEAN ministerial meeting in Brunei in April 2012 and the EU–ASEM meeting in Budapest in June 2011. Creighton was also the first Irish government minister to officially meet a minister from Burma when she met its foreign minister in April 2012. Creighton was involved in the co-ordination of the planning an execution of Ireland's 2013 EU Presidency, chairing a government committee responsible for all policy preparations and oversight. In January 2013 she hosted a meeting of European affairs ministers in Dublin which focused on strengthening democratic accountability and legitimacy in the European Union, an issue she has highlighted many times. During the 2012 referendum on the Stability Treaty, Creighton played a central role, speaking at numerous public meetings and events. Along with Simon Coveney, she devised Fine Gael's campaign for a yes vote.
Education
She is a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, where she gained a Law degree in 2002. She was a member of the Trinity College branch of Young Fine Gael. In 2003, she qualified as an Attorney-at-law for the state of New York. She was called to the Irish bar in 2005.
