39 Facts About Hazel Chu

Hazel Chu was chair of the Green Party from December 2019 to December 2021.

Hazel Chu was the first Irish-born person of Chinese descent elected to political office on the island of Ireland.

Hazel Chu served as Lord Mayor of Dublin from 2020 to 2021, and in doing so became the first person of Chinese ethnicity to be mayor of a European capital.

Chu's parents, Stella Choi Yau-fan and David Chu Tak-Leung, from villages in the New Territories of Hong Kong, both immigrated, individually, to Ireland in the 1970s.

Hazel Chu Chung-fai was born at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin in November 1980.

Hazel Chu was raised initially in the suburb of Firhouse, South Dublin, where up to 9 members of the extended family shared a 3-bedroom house, and, from age 6, lived in Celbridge, County Kildare.

Hazel Chu attended a local primary school, and secondary school boarding in Rathdown School in Glenageary, followed by Mount Sackville School in Chapelizod.

Hazel Chu has explained the boarding school as an example of how language barriers are issues for migrants: her parents didn't read English and she had to translate any letter that came from school for them; the letter informing Hazel Chu's parents that they needed to apply for the local secondary school was missed and she couldn't attend since the deadline for applications passed before the error was discovered.

Hazel Chu graduated with a BA in politics and history from University College Dublin in 2002.

Hazel Chu was active in college debating and was Auditor of the Politics Society.

Hazel Chu completed a legal diploma and barrister-at-law degree at the King's Inns, and in 2007 she became the first Irish-born person of Chinese descent to be called to the Irish Bar.

Hazel Chu received a master's degree in marketing practice from UCD in 2011.

Hazel Chu spent six months travelling and working in Australia and New Zealand, and part of a year as a volunteer teacher in a remote village in China, near Guilin, in 2009.

Hazel Chu returned to Ireland in 2012 and worked for Forfas and in the Office of the Chief Scientific Advisor, before working for the NDRC, and then Diageo Ireland, where she headed communications for five-and-a-half years.

Hazel Chu became a member of the Green Party in 2016 and was elected to serve on the party's National Executive for three years running.

Hazel Chu was elected National Coordinator of the Green Party and became its Spokesperson for Enterprise in 2018.

Hazel Chu stood as a Green Party candidate in the Pembroke LEA in the 2019 Dublin City Council election.

Hazel Chu was the first candidate in the country to be declared elected.

Hazel Chu was re-elected as a Councillor for Pembroke LEA in the 2024 Dublin City Council election, reaching the quota on the first count and again being the first candidate in the county to be elected.

On 29 June 2020, Hazel Chu was elected as the Lord Mayor of Dublin, succeeding interim mayor Tom Brabazon.

On 22 March 2021, Hazel Chu announced her candidacy as an independent candidate for a Seanad by-election; Hazel Chu received the signatures of six of twelve Green Party TDs as part of this nomination, including deputy leader Catherine Martin, with six Green TDs and another four senators opposing her candidacy.

The Executive Council of the party decided not to follow the parliamentary party's decision and Hazel Chu remained in the position of chair until the end of her term in December 2021.

Hazel Chu was not successful at the by-election, receiving 10 first preference votes.

On 27 April 2021, on the resignation of Eoghan Murphy from his Dail Eireann seat in Dublin Bay South, after consulting with party leadership Hazel Chu announced she would participate in the Green Party selection convention for the party nomination, competing with Dublin City councillor Claire Byrne; Hazel Chu did not receive this nomination, with Byrne selected by local party members to compete in the election.

On 15 July 2024, Hazel Chu was selected as the Green Party candidate for Dublin Bay South at the 2024 general election, following the announcement of the retirement of Eamon Ryan, the incumbent Green TD.

Hazel Chu contested the 2025 Seanad election in the Dublin University constituency, losing to Aubrey McCarthy by 64 votes.

Hazel Chu has stated she is in favour of increasing diversity in Irish politics, emphasising the importance of representation to normalise public office for people of colour.

Hazel Chu has acknowledged the abuse faced by herself and others, such as Yemi Adenuga and Uruemu Adejinmi, and stressed the need for political parties to actively recruit candidates from diverse backgrounds.

Hazel Chu has expressed her commitment to the Green Party but has been vocal about internal issues, including bullying and the need for greater diversity within its ranks.

Hazel Chu has described the Green Party as a broad church but noted tensions between its activist roots and the compromises of coalition government, which have caused friction among members.

Hazel Chu has stated that these compromises, such as policy shifts on issues like CETA, have alienated some supporters who initially joined the party for its progressive social agenda.

Hazel Chu has supported ending the Direct Provision system, describing it as a societal stain akin to the Magdalene Laundries and the Mother and Baby Homes.

Hazel Chu has highlighted the damaging effects of Direct Provision on children and adults alike, calling for its complete abolition and expressing confidence in the efforts of Minister Roderic O'Gorman and his team to deliver on this goal.

Hazel Chu has criticised Dublin's urban planning, advocating for increased residential zoning in the city centre and the repurposing of empty student accommodation to address homelessness.

Hazel Chu met her husband, Patrick Costello, before her UCD studies, and they have been together since her time at King's Inns.

Hazel Chu has spoken of racism, bullying, and harassment while growing up.

Subsequent to her election to the council and the media attention around it, Hazel Chu became a target of racist online harassment, particularly on Twitter.

Hazel Chu stated her resolution to not be intimidated by the harassment and to continue with her political career.

In January 2021 Hazel Chu described having been racially abused by a group of far-right protestors who had gathered outside the Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor.