Lorraine Higgins
Lorraine Higgins is an Irish barrister, and a former Labour Party politician who represented the party in the 24th Seanad after being nominated by the Taoiseach Enda Kenny. From Galway, she is a graduate of NUI Galway and, later, the King's Inns. During her time there she was Labour Party Seanad spokesperson on Reform and Foreign Affairs.
Career
She ran as a candidate in the Galway East constituency at the 2011 general election. In May 2011, she was nominated by the Taoiseach Enda Kenny to the 24th Seanad.Higgins was a candidate for the Labour Party in the Midlands–North-West constituency for the 2014 [European Parliament election in Ireland|2014 European Parliament election] but failed to take a seat during one of the worst elections for the Labour Party.
She unsuccessfully contested the 2016 Irish general election for the Galway East constituency.
She was not selected for re-appointment to the 25th Seanad. Higgins complained about how "regrettable" it was that more women were not included in the parliamentary party. She was quoted as saying: "For me it was the last throw of the dice and I probably won't be involved in representative politics again".
In March 2017, Higgins became employed as Head of Public Affairs and Communications and as a board member with Retail Excellence. She was promoted to the position of CEO in July 2018.
She subsequently founded leading digital representative body, Digital Business Ireland, and Dublin-based consultancy company, Rockwood Public Affairs.
She was appointed to the position of Honorary Consul of the Slovak Republic in 2019.
In August 2020, she Oireachtas [Golf Society scandal|attended a golf party in County Galway] which breached the COVID-19 guidelines.