INTRODUCTION  

My qualifications and broad experience

My Name is Linda O’Shea Farren.  Having studied law in University College Cork, I qualified as a Solicitor both in Ireland and England & Wales and as an Attorney-at-Law in New York.  I also hold a 1st Class Hons. Master's Degree in Public Policy (MEconSc) from the Institute of Public Administration awarded by University College Dublin. I am also a CEDR-accredited Mediator.  I practised law in New York and London from the mid-1980s to mid-1990s with Debevoise & Plimpton and, since returning to Ireland, I have worked in the public, private and voluntary sectors across a broad spectrum of Law, Corporate Governance, Human Rights, Government, Higher Education, Banking, Health and the Arts.  

My background

I have had a life-long commitment to public service.  This stems from my parents’ careers in the civil service, until the ‘marriage bar’ stopped my mother in her tracks.  Unfortunately, my father died shortly before my Leaving Cert., leaving my mother, at age 48, with seven of us.  As Limerick didn't have a university at the time, I headed off to UCC at age 17 to study law with a much-appreciated grant from Limerick City Corporation.  While local council grants enabled many people of my generation to obtain a third level education that would otherwise not have been possible (especially outside the then university cities, and especially women), we graduated into the so-called ‘brain drain’ that marked Ireland of the 1980s.  My legal journey brought me from a solicitor’s apprenticeship in West Cork to New York, to which I emigrated and qualified as an Attorney-at-Law. 

Running for Seanad Éireann     

I was nominated to run for Seanad Éireann by Professor John O’Halloran, President of UCC, and Professor Bryan McMahon, retired High Court Judge who is also a Solicitor, past Chair of UCC’s Governing Body and former Professor of Law and Head of the Department of Law at UCC.  

Professor John O’Halloran, President of UCC:  

‘Linda is someone who manages to effect real change in her every endeavour.  I have served with her for many years on both UCC's Governing Body and the NUI Senate, and her capacity for work is boundless.  I have witnessed Linda persuading people of varied dispositions to arrive at workable solutions in situations that are both complex and sensitive, even when others considered progress extremely remote.  If elected to Seanad Éireann, I have absolutely no doubt that Linda will use her significant qualifications and extensive experience in Higher Education, Law and Public Policy to deliver meaningful change for the greater good.  That is why I was delighted to nominate Linda for Seanad Éireann.'  

Professor Bryan McMahon, retired High Court Judge:  

‘I have known Linda for more than four decades, first as a law student of mine and, more recently, when she was Chair of UCC’s Audit & Risk Committee.  Linda has immense initiative; strong analytical, troubleshooting and leadership skills; and unflinching perseverance.  I have personally observed her, through her innovation and tenacity, devise solutions to problems that had long bedevilled others, all achieved with minimum friction.  These talents have enabled her to have a distinguished and varied career in law and well beyond.  I am confident that, if elected to Seanad Éireann, she is fully equipped to effect reform for the benefit of all.  I also have no hesitation in vouching for Linda's integrity and her honesty.’  

How I could represent you in Seanad Éireann

Please look at my record.  I have taken on difficult challenges all my life.  When things have not gone my way, I have not given up … and I’m not finished yet!

Ireland needs to be rebooted.  There is no doubt that we have ushered in major changes in relation to social issues in recent years.  However, societal well-being has not kept pace.  When you add the housing and cost of living crises to the increasing precarity of employment, and the fact that so many young Irish people have emigrated because of these issues, a different picture emerges. 

If elected to Seanad Éireann, I will use my platform and manadate to effect change because I believe that policies that are responsive to today’s needs are critical to Ireland’s future. To this end, I believe that my qualifications and extensive experience over the past four decades would serve me well in Seanad Éireann. I hope that you can take the time to read more about me below, and about how you can cast your vote in this Seanad Éireann election.

Please look at my record, place your trust in me and get value for your vote …

Skip to the end of the Ballot Paper, and VOTE #1  for O’SHEA FARREN, Linda   

DO YOU HAVE A VOTE?

Please do not hesitate to email me at osfarren@gmail.com with your (i) full name, (ii) degree and (iii) year your degree was awarded, and I will be happy to check if you are registered to vote in this election.

YOUR VOTE

See the following information in relation to your vote:

1. If you are registered to vote in this election, you will receive a Ballot Paper around Monday, 30th or Tuesday, 31st December 2024

2. The Ballot Paper will arrive by registered post:

   • If you miss the post, you can follow up ASAP via the note An Post leaves to let you know where, and by what date, you can collect your registered letter

   • If you miss the deadline on An Post's note, you can email NUI at elections@nui.ie or phone NUI at (01) 439 2424, and ask them to re-post your Ballot Paper to you (or possibly even pick it up in person, with ID, from 49 Merrion Square if you live nearby) after it is returned to them

3. Completed Ballot Papers have to be posted back to NUI - not hand delivered - in the pre-paid envelope provided

4. The deadline for Ballot Papers arriving at NUI in time to be counted is 11.00am on Wednesday, 29th January 2025

5. lt would be great if you could please return your completed Ballot Paper ASAP upon receipt

For all queries, please email me at osfarren@gmail.com

See also NUI’s website: https://www.nui.ie/elections/seanadelection2025/default.asp

MY TRACK RECORD AS A CAMPAIGNER

Change does not happen on its own.  It takes courage to pursue change and tenacity to persevere until improvements are delivered.  I have shown initiative and tenacity in every role that I have undertaken, and I have a strong track record of getting things done.  By way of illustration, the following summary is indicative of the level of change that I have been able to achieve or influence, mostly on my own initiative and in voluntary roles:

• I was one of the first Irish lawyers to prove to the New York State Board of Law Examiners that Irish law degrees are quantitatively and qualitatively equivalent to US graduate law degrees (Juris Doctorate / JD), which set the precedent entitling Irish law graduates to sit the New York Bar Exam

• In 1985, the year in which I qualified as a solicitor and emigrated to New York, I founded the Irish American Bar Association of New York (IABANY) to meet the need of Irish immigrants in the USA for pro bono legal advice

• I applied to my law firm, Debevoise & Plimpton, to take IABANY on as a pro bono client, which enabled me to set IABANY up as a 501(c)(3) charitable organisation and put it on a permanent footing; IABANY is still thriving today, almost 40 years later, and I have been awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award for services to IABANY

• Led by me, IABANY was the only organisation to oppose an application in the late 1980s by the New York Bar Association to the New York Court of Appeals to remove New York’s recognition of  certain Common Law law degrees (including Irish) as equivalent to US Juris Doctorate degrees; we were successful in opposing this application, thereby securing Irish law graduates' eligibility to sit the New York Bar Exam to this day

• When I was practising in the London office of Debevoise & Plimpton, I was involved in the group that obtained reciprocity for Irish and English solicitors in 1991  

• In 1993, IABANY organised a large group admission of our members to the United States Supreme Court 

• When I was Programme Manager & Adviser to former Minister for Justice Nora Owen in the Rainbow Coalition in the mid-1990s, I promoted reciprocity between the State Boards of Law Examiners of states other than New York and Ireland, thereby increasing possibilities for Irish lawyers to practise in the US 

• Following my experience registering our first child born in Ireland, I successfully fought for enactment of the Registration of Births Act 1996, which equality-proofed registration of births

• Later in the 1990s, I also successfully fought a plan by Dublin Bus to replace half its fleet with inaccessible buses, and ultimately they were all made accessible 

• Having campaigned for people with disabilities throughout my adult life, I was instrumental in getting Ireland’s first disability law on the statute books in 2005

• I have also been actively involved in a campaign to save mature trees in Dublin that were slated for felling as part of Bus Connects - Irish Examiner  

• In more recent years, I have devoted much of my time to the arts in Ireland - see my CV below  

Please look at my record, place your trust in me and get value for your vote …

Skip to the end of the Ballot Paper, and VOTE #1  for O’SHEA FARREN, Linda

MY POLICY PRIORITIES 

Reforming employment rights … 

Have you, or someone close to you, had a stressful work experience in Ireland?  While the media report WRC cases daily, they are only the tip of the iceberg.  Employment security for people at all stages of their careers has become increasingly fragile - not only in the so-called gig economy, but throughout the workplace in Ireland.  Importantly, I know from personal experience that, in reality, Ireland’s employment laws and enforcement structures are far from employee-friendly.  They need to be reformed as a matter of urgency to make them fit for purpose.    

If elected to Seanad Eireann, I am uniquely well placed to drive reform of the laws and structures in relation to employment rights.  Not only have I represented employees as a lawyer, but I also know first-hand the colossal effort and cost it takes to fight for your employment rights and the financial and career risks involved.  See ‘WRC found ‘absolutely no procedure’ followed by publicly-funded organisation in case of Linda O’Shea Farren’ (Irish Times, 8 Feb 2024).   

Tackling housing & cost of living …

Are you, or someone close to you, still suffering the consequences of the standstill in house building following the disastrous Celtic Tiger property bubble and the consequent banking crisis of 2008?  When Ireland was a struggling new state, we managed to build significant levels of public housing and a large section of society had secure jobs that enabled them to save a deposit and become homeowners.  A century later, it simply cannot be beyond our combined wit to make meaningful progress on providing a broad range of private housing and state-led affordable and social housing alongside controlling other spiralling costs of living.  

As a seasoned human rights campaigner with a strong track record across a spectrum of EDI issues and an expert in governance, compliance and risk, I will scrutinise Government investment policy to ensure that all investment, including the Foreign Direct Investment corporate tax boom, is targeted to resolve critical strategic policies like housing, healthcare and public transport and that we actually get value for money.   

Resourcing disability services & carers …

Do you, or someone close to you, require disability services?  Are you a carer or being cared for?  Protecting citizens in greatest need is key to a civilised society.  Having campaigned for people with disabilities throughout my adult life, I was instrumental in getting Ireland’s first disability law on the statute books in 2005.  However, in the 20 years since then, little has been done to resource services for people with disabilities.  Ireland’s poor treatment of carers, and its disregard for the contribution they make to society, has to stop.

As a proven disability rights advocate, I will relentlessly pursue waste of public funds with a view to funding properly resourced services for people with disabilities, and proper recognition and support for carers. 

Facilitating return of our young emigrants … 

Do your children, nieces or nephews in Australia, Canada or elsewhere abroad want to return?  Like many of my generation, my husband, Brian Farren, and I emigrated to the United States in the 1980s because of the lack of jobs, not a lack of housing at that time.  We came home in 1993 and have raised our three children here.  Like so many other young people across Ireland, they are now living in the UK, continental Europe and Australia, with little hope for many of them ever being able to afford to come home.  

Having emigrated myself, I know that, if we don’t make it feasible for Irish people to come home (many with their own children at this stage), the changes made in relation to social issues in Ireland in recent years will be poor consolation.    

Climate action … 

Few people disagree that tackling climate change is the game changer of the future.  All public representatives at every level, whatever their political hue or none, need to join forces to agree, resource and roll out innovative solutions to this global threat.  

The world managed to join forces to tackle the Covid pandemic and develop vaccines, so Ireland can do it to play our role in tackling climate change.

Please look at my record, place your trust in me and get value for your vote …

Skip to the end of the Ballot Paper, and VOTE #1  for O’SHEA FARREN, Linda

MY SERVICE TO THE NUI COMMUNITY

For the past 22 years, I have been serving the NUI community with a graduate’s perspective and on a voluntary basis. I have been elected to the NUI Senate by Convocation (NUI graduates, academics and Senate members) for the past five consecutive 5-year terms (2002 to 2027). I have also served as inaugural NUI Chair of Audit & Risk for 13 years (2009-2022).  Concurrently elected to UCC’s Governing Body (2012-2015), I served as UCC’s Chair of Audit & Risk throughout that term.  I am, therefore, very familiar with the challenges that affect NUI students, graduates and academics as well as the country generally.

My varied professional and voluntary roles within and outside a university context have placed me in an ideal position to be an active contributor and independent voice on the NUI Senate throughout my five terms. This has included a range of important issues, including serving on the Senate Sub-Committee established by Senate to oppose (successfully) dissolution of the NUI proposed by Government in January 2010, championing equality and diversity, promoting the Irish language, ensuring matriculation requirements are appropriate for today’s students, honouring Ireland’s artists and sportspeople.

Having been elected to the NUI Senate by Convocation for 25 years

and served you throughout this period,

I respectfully ask you to entrust me with your #1 Vote for Seanad Éireann

MY CV

Education

• Educated at Presentation Convent and at Laurel Hill in Limerick

• Studied law at University College Cork, graduating with a BCL degree

• Qualified as a solicitor, after studying at Law Society of Ireland and an apprenticeship in Clonakilty, West Cork

• Qualified as a New York attorney, having sat and passed the New York Bar Exams

• Admitted to practise as a Solicitor in England and Wales

• Admitted to practise before the United States Supreme Court

• Accredited Mediator, Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR)

• Graduated with 1st Class Hons. MEconSc in Policy Analysis (and 1st in class) in November 2019 (IPA/UCD) - Master’s Thesis: Does It Pay The Composer To Put The Dots On The Page?  State fostering of  composition of contemporary classical music in Ireland: sound as a pound?

Professional Experience – Past & Present

• Worked as an Attorney-at-Law in New York and London (Debevoise & Plimpton)  [1985 to 1993]

• Founding President of the Irish American Bar Association of New York, which successfully (and on its own) fought off a New York Bar Association court challenge to recognition of Irish law degrees by New York State

• Member of American Chamber of Commerce in Europe (AmCham EU)

• Manager in Kredietbank Financial Services Ireland, negotiating finance for infrastructure projects  [1993]

• Programme Manager and Adviser to Minister for Justice Nora Owen in Rainbow Coalition 

• Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs, Irish Wheelchair Association

• Set up O’Shea Farren Solicitors, with an emphasis on advocating for, and pro bono representation of, people with disabilities and others suffering discrimination, musicians and other artists, et al. 

• Nominated by members of the Educational Building Society following the 2008 banking crisis, and elected to the Board of EBS in May 2009 

• Member of Board of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA)

• Assessed applications to ORAC/IPO by asylum seekers for refugee status 

• Arts management in contemporary music from Ireland since 2017 

Voluntary Work – Past & Present

Examples of Leadership Roles across the Education Sector

• Member of the Senate of the National University of Ireland (NUI Senate), and former Chair of its Audit and Risk Committee  [ Elected for the past 5 x 5-year terms, from 2002 to 2027]

• Member of the Governing Body of University College Cork (UCC), and Chair of its Audit Committee  [ Elected from 2012-2015]

• Member of Mary Immaculate College Foundation, Limerick  [2012 to 2017]

• Member / Chair of a range of primary and secondary school Boards /PTAs [1998 to 2009], including Gonzaga College SJ, Ranelagh Multi-Denominational School, Scoil Bhríde, Sandford National School, St. Patrick’s Cathedral Choir School 

Examples of Leadership Roles in Disability and Equality

• Own solicitor’s practice with pro bono legal work for people with disabilities, equality, artists  [2000 to 2010]

• Pro Bono Legal Adviser to Forum of People with Disabilities

• Successfully campaigned for introduction of disability legislation in Ireland (Disability Act 2005)

• Successfully campaigned against inaccessible Dublin buses in the 1990s, all which were ultimately made accessible

• Appointed Member of European Year of People with Disabilities (EYPD 2003), Sub-Committee on Rights and Responsibilities

• Addressed United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Geneva re: Irish government’s record on rights for people with disabilities

• Successfully campaigned for equality in registration of births (Registration of Births Act 1996)

Examples of Leadership Roles in Music & the Arts

• Chairperson of the Board of Dublin International Chamber Music Festival (formerly Great Music in Irish Houses)  [2009 to date; Chair since 2019]

• Board Member of The Galway Music Residency  [2018 to date]

• Board Member of Dance Cork Firkin Crane  [2020 to date]

• Founder and Curator of the Audrey Chisholm Award at Birr Festival of Music  [2020 to date] 

• Founding Chairperson of Music Education Action Group in January 2001, which produced a Report Music Education: The Poor Relation (April 2002) that the Government piloted and ultimately led to the foundation of Music Generation

• Member of the United Arts Club and its Fundraising Committee

• Member of the Dublin Philharmonic Society and concert host

• Host Family for Dublin International Piano Competition, Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition, Pipeworks International Organ Competition, Beethoven Bootcamp, etc.

• General supporter of a range of music organisations including Royal Irish Academy of Music; Dublin Youth Orchestras; National Youth Orchestra of Ireland; Feis Ceoil, etc.