Ursula Quill Bio

I’m running in this election to bring my experience in politics to realise the vision we share for a better future. Having worked for four years with Ivana Bacik in the Seanad, I gained invaluable experience of legislation and the work of the Oireachtas; working on a cross-party basis and with civil servants and stakeholders on Bills relating to the Gender Pay Gap, on collective bargaining rights for freelance workers and citizenship rights for children born in Ireland. I also worked on the Vótáil100 events celebrating 100 years of women's suffrage.

In recent years, Irish citizens have driven important political change, including in two referendums and I was proud to campaign locally for marriage equality and reproductive rights. I believe in the kind of participative and representative engagement of the Citizens’ Assembly – this is the focus of my PhD work at the School of Law in Trinity, where I have a Provost’s PhD Award researching “Citizen-Led Constitutional Reform: Assessing the Promise of Deliberative Democracy”.

I graduated from Trinity in 2012 with a BA in English and Irish and I was Auditor of the Hist in my final year. I was appointed Director of Hist250, which marked 250 years of the College Historical Society and co-curated the Hist250 exhibition in the Long Room launched by the Chancellor Dr Mary McAleese. I am now a Vice-President of the Hist. I also have a Higher Diploma in Psychology from UCD and a Diploma in Legal Studies from King’s Inns.

I was part of the Emerging Voices Group at the Institute of International and European Affairs from 2018 to 2020 and contributed a piece on Social Europe and the Sustainable Development Goals to A Future of Europe Anthology. I am now a board member of the IIEA. The Arts have always been an important part of my life. I was managing editor of Comhar’s Portráidí na Scríbhneoirí Gaeilge - Portraits of Irish Language Writers and have recently been appointed to the board of Mermaid Arts Centre in Bray, Co. Wicklow.

Creidim go bhfuil an fís, fuinneamh agus taithí agam difear polaitiúil a dhéanamh sa Seanad agus dul i ngleic le ceisteanna móra ár linne. Bheinn an-bhuíoch as do vóta sa toghchán seo. If elected, I will focus on climate change and biodiversity, global solidarity, arts and culture, the future of Ireland and education. I want to meet the crises in these areas with solutions and new ideas. I want to build on Trinity’s proud tradition of electing liberal, feminist and progressive Senators and I am asking for your Number 1 Vote in this bye-election.