Background
She grew up in a council estate and is the first person in her family to finish school and go to college.
She grew up in a council estate and is the first person in her family to finish school and go to college.
Trinity College.
She was elected to the 24th Seanad in April 2011 by the Industrial and Commercial Panel for Fianna Fáil. From 2011 until 2015 she served as the Fianna Fáil Seanad spokesperson on Education and Skills. She has a degree in Business, Economics and Social Science from Trinity College, Dublin, where she was elected to the positions of President (2001-2002) and Education Officer (2000-2001) of Trinity College Dublin Students" Union.
She also has a Diploma in Legal Studies from Honorable Society of Kings Inns and is a graduate of the Boston College Political Leadership Programme.
She unsuccessfully contested election for President of the Union of Students in Ireland in March 2002, losing out to DIT student Colm Jordan. Power first sought election to public office at the 2009 Local and European elections, contesting election for Fianna Fáil in the Howth-Malahide local electoral area of Fingal County Council.
She was unsuccessful, coming seventh with 7.46% of the vote. During this period she was employed as a political adviser by Minister Mary Hanafin in the Departments of Tourism, Social and Family Affairs and Education on a salary reported to be €100,191 per year plus pension contribution.
She remained a political adviser to Hanafin until the 2011 General Election.
Power contested the Dublin North–East constituency at the 2011 general election but was not elected. In a three-seat constituency, she polled fourth on the first count, receiving 4,794 first preference votes (115%). In March 2011, following her failure to secure a seat in General Election, Micheal Martin nominated Power via the Oireachtas panel to contest the 2011 Seanad Election on the Industrial and Commercial Vocational Panel.
She was elected, polling 75 votes.
Since her election to the Seanad, Power has advocated a number of issues including education, social justice, mental health and LGBT equality. She was awarded a GALA for "Politician of the Year" by the National LGBT Federation in 2014.
She has spoken out about her experience as an adopted person and is campaigning for all Irish adoptees to have a right to their birth certificates She has an interest in development issues and volunteered in Mozambique with Voluntary Service Overseas in August 2011.
She also visited the Occupied Palestinian territories with Christian Aid in 2013 and has been a vocal advocate of the rights of the Palestinian people.
She proposed a motion recognizing the State of Palestine which was passed by the Irish Senate in October 2014. She is a Jury member for the global Frontline Defenders human rights awards. She was unsuccessful in her bid to be elected to the Dáil in the newly created Dublin Bay North Constituency in 2016.
Departure from Fianna Fáil.
She has also produced policy papers on youth mental health and increasing female representation in politics. On 25 May 2015, Power announced that she was leaving the Fianna Fáil party, citing differences over how the party handled the Marriage equality referendum.
In February 2011, prior to the General Election, Fianna Fáil Leader Micheal Martin appointed Power directly to his Front Bench, in doing so breaking the convention that members of the Front Bench hold elected office.
