Mary Fitzpatrick

Mary Fitzpatrick (born 20 February 1969) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as a senator since June 2020. She was elected for the Industrial and Commercial Panel in 2025, having previously been nominated by the Taoiseach in 2020.

Early life Fitzpatrick is from the Navan Road in Dublin and was educated at Our Lady Help of Christians and St. Dominic's College, Cabra before graduating from University College Dublin with a BA in German and Italian.

Career Fitzpatrick emigrated in the 1980s, living and working abroad with roles in the hospitality, manufacturing, education and construction sectors. From the early 1990s, she held International Sales and Marketing roles.

Political career Fitzpatrick was co-opted to Dublin City Council in 2003 to replace her father, Dermot Fitzpatrick, who stood down after the dual mandate prohibited sitting members of the Oireachtas from holding local authority seats. She was re-elected at the 2004 Dublin City Council election, polling over 10% of the vote.

2007 general election At the 2007 general election, her father retired. Mary Fitzpatrick was one of three candidates selected for Fianna Fáil in Dublin Central, along with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Cyprian Brady. Held under Ireland's single transferable vote system, Brady polled just 939 first preference votes (2.7%) in the first count, compared to Fitzpatrick's 1,725. However he was elected on the fourth count, due in large part to transfers from his Ahern, and became only the second ever TD (after Brian O'Higgins) to be elected with less than 1,000 first-preference votes.

The election became the subject of a public controversy, covered in national newspapers and on the RTÉ Radio 1 news programme Drivetime and on the weekly Documentary on One which had been covering the campaigns of the three female candidates in the constituency.

Fitzpatrick, was the daughter of the outgoing Fianna Fáil TD and the third Fianna Fáil candidate in the 4-seat constituency, received 1,725 first-preference votes and 1,362 of Ahern's transfers (whereas Brady received 2,403). Ahern's election agent Chris Wall blamed Fitzpatrick, saying "She was asked not to do this sort of thing. Having then done it, she therefore effectively set in train a motion she wasn't going to be able to stop."

2011 general election In January 2011, she was selected as a Fianna Fáil candidate in Dublin Central for the 2011 general election. Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, who was not running again, said his loyalties this time would be with sitting TD Cyprian Brady and there was no hope of Fianna Fáil winning two seats in the constituency.

During the campaign, former Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte, reacting to her appointment as Fianna Fáil spokesperson on Housing and Urban Development, said "You might as well wander down Grafton Street and see if you can meet a couple of good-looking women and say, 'Would you ever mind coming up for the photograph'." Fitzpatrick replied: "I'm happy to take the compliment of being a good-looking woman any day, particularly from the Opposition. But I do take issue with his dismissive and patronising attitude to the contribution I've made to political life. It is a real shame that when women are given important jobs on their own merits, they have to deal with sexist comments from Pat Rabbitte."

During the campaign the rows between her and Cyprian Brady were widely reported in the media. Suffering from the massive backlash against Fianna Fáil in Dublin she polled 10% of the vote, losing the final seat to Mary Lou McDonald of Sinn Féin.

2011 Seanad election Fitzpatrick was a candidate in the 2011 election to the 24th Seanad on the Administrative Panel but was not elected. As a consequence of the Seanad "inside/outside" election rules, Fitzparick was the highest polling candidate not be elected.

2014 European Parliament election She was selected as the Fianna Fáil candidate for the Dublin constituency at the 2014 European Parliament election. She illegally erected posters too early, causing some controversy when she was accused of flouting regulations. She failed to get elected.

2016 and 2020 general elections At the 2016 general election, she stood again in Dublin Central. She received 10.6% of the first preference votes but was not elected. At the 2019 local elections, she stood in the Cabra-Glasnevin local electoral area. She received 19.4% of the first preference votes and topped the poll on the first count. At the 2020 general election, she was eliminated in the Dublin Central constituency, having received 10.3% of the first preference votes.

In June 2020, she was nominated by the Taoiseach Micheál Martin to the Seanad.

2024 general election At the 2024 general election, she stood again in Dublin Central. She received 7.2% of the first preference votes but was not elected.

In February 2026, she ruled herself out of contesting the 2026 Dublin Central by-election.

Personal life Fitzpatrick lives in Glasnevin, Dublin with her husband Seán Cody, and their three children. She speaks German, Italian and French.