West Belfast Sinn Féin Sinn Féin -- Building an Ireland of Equals

Bairbre De Brun MEP

Bairbre de Brun has been active in republican politics for the last 30 years.

She was a member of the Relatives Action Committee in the late 1970s and a member of the Anti H-Block/Armagh Committee during the 1981 hunger strike.

In 1983 Bairbre was involved in the setting up of the Connolly House constituency office on the Andersonstown Road.

At different times from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s she was Sinn Fein 6 county press officer, head of the party's cultural department and was active in the party's women's department.

In the early 1990s Bairbre traveled widely to promote Sinn Fein's peace strategy and at the time of the 1994 IRA ceasefire, she was head of the Sinn Fein international department.

Bairbre was a member of the Sinn Fein negotiating team that negotiated the Good Friday Agreement and after the signing of the Agreement she was elected as an Assembly member for west Belfast.

In December 1999, she became Minister for Health, Social Services and Public Safety in the Executive.

She was reelected as an MLA in the November 2003 Assembly elections and then in 2004 and 2009 she stood as Sinn Fein's 6 county candidate in the European elections and was elected as an MEP.

Her vote in 2009 saw Sinn Fein become the largest party in the six counties, overtaking the DUP.

In her role as a member of the European Parliament, Bairbre has been deeply involved in many issues including;

  • Renewable energy
  • Anti poverty
  • Cost of living
  • Climate change
  • Agriculture
  • Economic development

Her commitment to the promotion of the Irish language is life long.

She has been a strong supporter of the campaign for an Acht na Gaeilge and she was instrumental in securing the status of 'official working language of the EU' for the Irish language.