One of seven children, Smith grew up in Rathfarnham. Her parents were prominent in the Irish Republican movement, and her father was a trade unionist. In the 1980s, Smith worked as a librarian, but was sacked for not passing a picket.[3]
In 2001, she was an ATGWUshop steward and secretary of the Campaign Against Partnership Deals.[4] She was a spokesperson for the Anti-Bin Tax Campaign.[5] She has addressed large crowds at demonstrations, such as the visit to Dublin by former British Prime MinisterTony Blair[6] and the 2004 protests against the Iraq War.[7] Smith was a long-time campaigner on repealing the 8th amendment to legalise abortion in Ireland, and has described its repeal as one of the highs of her career.[8]
Smith was the first TD to discuss having an abortion, having terminated a pregnancy in the 1980s.[9]
Political career
Smith first contested a general election in 1997, when she ran for the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), receiving 0.54% of the vote in Dublin South-Central. She ran in Dublin South-Central again for the SWP at the following election in 2002, once again failing to be elected with 1.4% of the vote, before unsuccessfully running for the party in the 2004 local elections, placing fourth in a three-seat ward with 11.76% of the vote. In 2007, she ran in Dublin South-Central for a third time, this time for People Before Profit. She received an increased share of 4.39% of the vote but once again was not elected.[10]
In July 2020, Smith was investigated by the Dáil Committee on Procedure for comments she made in the Dáil and online about High Court judge Garrett Simons, which were described by government TD Charles Flanagan as "an attack on democracy itself". The previous month, Smith had said in the Dáil that it was "a day when tens of thousands of workers will wake up to the realisation that a learned judge of the High Court, who earns more than €220,000 per year, has decided in his wisdom that an electrician who may earn €45,000 per year is possibly overpaid, and has then struck down a sectoral employment order that will affect tens of thousands of workers already on low pay. This is a war on workers, and it is time for workers to fight back."[16]
In July 2023, Smith announced she would not contest the next general election.[8] In January 2024 she was selected by People Before Profit to contest the 2024 European Parliament election for the Dublin constituency.[17][18] Smith received 21,577 (5.7%) first preference votes but was not elected.[19]
Political views
In 2010, Smith criticised health cuts implemented by the government at Cherry Orchard Hospital, and organised a protest against Mary Harney, on behalf of the Save Cherry Orchard Hospital Campaign.[20][21][22] In 2009 she opposed the Treaty of Lisbon.[23] In 2015 she opposed the alcohol industry's sponsorship of sporting events.[2]
Smith opposes sanctions on Russia amidst the Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying that they "severely hurt the Russian people" and comparing them to the sanctions levelled against Iraq after the Iraq War.[24]
Smith has expressed support for migrant workers in Ireland, discussing the 50,000 migrant workers in Ireland's health service and 27,000 in construction and asking "where would we be without them?"[25] She has called the European response to the migration crisis "shameful".[26]
References
^"Bríd Smith". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 12 February 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
^O'Connell served as Ceann Comhairle in the 22nd and 23rd Dáil from 1981 to 1983 and was returned automatically at the February 1982 and November 1982 general elections. He joined Fianna Fáil in January 1985.
