Kathleen Lynch

Kathleen Lynch (born 7 June 1953) is an Irish Labour Party politician. She is a Teachta Dála (TD) for Cork North Central and is currently the Labour Party Spokesperson for Consumer Affairs.

Kathleen Lynch was born in Cork. She first became involved in politics in 1985 when she was elected to Cork Corporation for the Workers Party. When that party split in 1992, Lynch and other members of the Cork organisation were initially undecided as to their stance, but she subsequently decided to follow former party president Proinsias De Rossa and the bulk of the party's TDs into the new organisation which later took the name Democratic Left. Lynch was first elected to Dáil Éireann as Democratic Left TD for Cork North Central in a by-election in 1994 caused by the death of Labour Party TD Gerry O'Sullivan. She lost her Dáil seat in 1997 general election but was re-elected again in the 2002 general election, this time for the Labour Party following the merger of Democratic Left with that party in 1999.

In April 2008 she was involved in a controversy where she wrote a letter testifying the good character of the parents of a man accused of raping two teenage sisters. The man was convicted and sentenced for 13 years. [http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0420/caseyt.html] . In a statement she said; [http://labour.ie/press/listing/120870136285570.html]

"Having heard an interview with one of the victims in the case, who was clearly distressed by my letter and having considered the matter and discussed it with colleagues I now accept that it was inappropriate for a TD to have become involved in any way in a case of such seriousness.

If my action has in any way added to the ordeal of the two victims in this case, then I deeply regret that and offer them my apologies."

External links

* [http://www.labour.ie/kathleenlynch/biography.html Biographical information on Labour Party website]