Verona Murphy

Verona Murphy (born 1970/1971) is an Irish independent politician who has been Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann since 2024, and a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wexford constituency since 2020. Originally from the Ramsgrange area of County Wexford, Murphy was involved in the road haulage business before unsuccessfully standing for election for Fine Gael in the 2019 Wexford by-election. After being de-selected by Fine Gael, she stood and was elected as an independent TD at the 2020 and 2024 general elections.

Early life One of 11 children, Murphy was born and raised in Ramsgrange by parents who were farmers and livestock dealers. She dropped out of school at 15, before moving to England, where she worked at a Vauxhall Motors factory by day and a McDonald's franchise by night. She then returned to Ireland and bought her first truck and trailer at the age of 21. She later returned to education, doing her Leaving Certificate at 35

Murphy ran a haulage firm, Drumur Transport, with her partner Joseph Druhan. The business closed in 2021. She was elected as the president of the Irish Road Haulage Association in 2015, the second woman to hold the position. Following her election to the Dáil, Murphy stepped down as president of the association.

Murphy has one child, a daughter she had at the age of 22.

Political career 2019 Wexford by-election She was selected as the Fine Gael candidate for the November 2019 Wexford by-election, which was called after the election of Mick Wallace to the European Parliament. During the by-election campaign, Murphy made remarks supporting Noel Grealish's attempts to block a direct provision centre being created in Oughterard, County Galway, and suggested that immigrants coming to Ireland were being "infiltrated by ISIS" and would need to be "deprogrammed". She claimed that immigrants as young as "three or four years old" were a danger because of ISIS brainwashing and that ISIS is a "big part" of the migrant population in Ireland.

These remarks were criticised by the Irish Refugee Council and by members of opposition parties in the Dáil. Several other top-ranking members of Fine Gael were also disturbed by her campaign, including Tánaiste Simon Coveney, who stated that Murphy's comments were wrong, and her choice of language about migrants was not acceptable. Murphy refused to participate in any of the by-election debates or panel discussions during the campaign. Fine Gael stated it was aware of allegations against Murphy of workplace bullying before the campaign began.

On election day, Murphy received 9,543 (23.8%) first preference votes and was eliminated on the fourth count, in third place behind Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) and George Lawlor (Labour). Despite the defeat, Murphy insisted on election day that she would be Fine Gael's candidate in the 2020 general election. When asked again about Murphy after the by-election, Leo Varadkar stated "quite frankly I'm glad she didn't get elected" and remarked; "What was done subsequently in terms of the video she did which sort of tried to imply the whole thing was a media character assassination attempt on her – I had a big problem with that because maybe it suggested to me that the apology and retraction wasn't fully sincere." Furthermore, Varadkar declared that it had been a "mistake" by Fine Gael to select Murphy as a candidate, a mistake for which he took responsibility.

Following her de-selection, Murphy left Fine Gael.

Independent TD In the 2020 general election, Murphy was elected as an independent TD in the Wexford constituency.

In November 2021 Murphy was accused of spreading anti-vax information in the Dáil by health minister Stephen Donnelly after Murphy stated studies had shown "that a vaccinated person is every bit as likely to transmit this virus as a non-vaccinated person". Murphy stated she was not "anti-vax" and had been vaccinated herself, but believed the choice to take vaccinations was up to the individual.

In February 2024, Murphy confirmed that she would run a team of candidates as part of the newly formed Wexford Independent Alliance at the 2024 Wexford County Council election. The alliance ran 12 candidates and five were elected to Wexford County Council.

Murphy was re-elected at the 2024 general election, topping the poll with 21.6% of first-preference votes and being elected on the first count.

Ceann Comhairle On 18 December 2024, she was elected to the position of Ceann Comhairle of the 34th Dáil. She is the first woman to hold the office. As a result of protests against her decision to grant opposition questioning time to Independent TDs who support the government, several opposition TDs launched a protest in one of the first sessions of the 34th Dáil. The protest saw Murphy "[lose] control of the House for more than five and a half hours" on her first day as Ceann Comhairle, leading to some calls for her resignation. This situation would evolve into the 2025 Dáil speaking rights dispute. On 26 March, the leaders of Sinn Féin and the Labour Party each expressed no confidence in Murphy's position, offering her "time to reflect" before considering a formal motion. On 1 April 2025, Murphy won a motion of no confidence. It was the first time since the establishment of the Dáil in 1919 that a Ceann Comhairle has stood against a motion of no confidence. As Ceann Comhairle, Murphy also serves as Cathaoirleach of the influential Business Committee, the Committee on Parliamentary Privileges and Oversight and the Committee on Standing Orders and Dáil Reform.