1. Ivana Catherine Bacik was born on 25 May 1968 and is an Irish politician who has been the Leader of the Labour Party since 24 March 2022 and a Teachta Dala for the Dublin Bay South constituency since winning a by-election on 9 July 2021.
40 Facts About Ivana Bacik
1. 2.
Ivana Bacik previously served as Deputy leader of the Seanad from 2011 to 2016.
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Ivana Bacik came to prominence due to her abortion rights campaigning from the 1980s onwards.
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Ivana Bacik's paternal grandfather, Charles Ivana Bacik, was a Czech factory owner who moved to Ireland in 1946.
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Ivana Bacik eventually settled in Waterford and in 1947 was involved in the establishment of Waterford Crystal.
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Ivana Bacik's father was an astronomer and was employed in a number of locations.
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When Ivana Bacik was 11 years old, her family moved to the Sunday's Well area of Cork City.
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Ivana Bacik won a scholarship to board at Alexandra College in Milltown, Dublin, and was awarded a sizarship at Trinity College Dublin.
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Ivana Bacik resigned as president of Trinity College Dublin Students' Union in 1990, after breaking the mandate from the Union membership regarding voting for candidates at a Union of Students in Ireland conference.
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Ivana Bacik was taken to court by the anti-abortion group, the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child, for providing information on abortion.
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SPUC were successful in the court case, although that success came in the 1990s, long after Ivana Bacik had graduated from Trinity College.
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Ivana Bacik contested the Seanad Eireann elections in 1997 and 2002 as an independent candidate for the Dublin University constituency but was not successful.
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Ivana Bacik ran as a Labour Party candidate at the 2004 election to the European Parliament in the Dublin constituency.
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Ivana Bacik ran with sitting MEP Proinsias De Rossa, who was the party president, on the same ticket.
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Ivana Bacik polled 40,707 first preference votes but was not elected.
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In February 2009, Ivana Bacik was included in an 'All Star Women's Cabinet' in the Irish Independent.
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Ivana Bacik joined the Labour Party group in the Seanad in September 2009, and became Labour Party Seanad spokesperson for both Justice and Arts, Sports and Tourism.
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Ivana Bacik was re-elected to Seanad Eireann at the subsequent election, after which she became Deputy leader of the Seanad.
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Ivana Bacik held her seat in the Seanad in 2016 and in 2020.
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On 27 April 2021, after the resignation of Eoghan Murphy from his Dail seat in Dublin Bay South, Ivana Bacik announced her intention to stand in the upcoming by-election.
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Ivana Bacik campaigned with an emphasis on providing affordable housing, as well as improving healthcare and childcare, tackling climate change, and achieving "a true republic in which church and state are separated".
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Ivana Bacik campaigned on increasing the number of sports amenities for children in the area, calling for unused Defence Forces football fields at the Cathal Brugha Barracks to be freed up for local sports, with the suggestion rejected by Fine Gael Minister for Defence Simon Coveney.
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Ivana Bacik stated that she believed that it took place within existing COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
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Kelly stated that he believed that Ivana Bacik would succeed him.
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Ivana Bacik pledged that Labour would fight the next election as a "standalone party" rather than joining any left-wing alliance.
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At the 2024 general election, Ivana Bacik was re-elected to the Dail.
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Since 2007 Ivana Bacik has spoken in support of the legalisation of cannabis.
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Ivana Bacik has proposed that cannabis should be sold under license at music festivals in Ireland such as Electric Picnic, calling for a "rational" approach to drugs.
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In May 2019, following the results of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation which found that hundreds of children had died while in the care of homes run by the Catholic Church, Ivana Bacik called for the government to take financial action against the religious orders involved.
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In 2022, Ivana Bacik called for a pay rise for workers and a windfall tax on energy companies, and an increase in the minimum wage.
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Ivana Bacik believes that Sinn Fein's refusal to support a property tax is populist and contradictory to their left-wing stance.
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Ivana Bacik has long advocated for an inclusive, red-green alliance focused on environmental and economic equality, which she views as the key to addressing the climate emergency.
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Ivana Bacik is a supporter of Palestine, and has expressed a desire to see Irish support for Palestine "reflected in government policies".
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In September 2006, Ivana Bacik was one of the 61 Irish academic signatories of a letter published in The Irish Times calling for an academic boycott of the state of Israel.
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In 2021 Ivana Bacik commended the Irish government for its response to Russian invasion of Ukraine, particularly for its intake of over 20,000 refugees.
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Ivana Bacik has called for stronger actions at the EU and UN levels, including the expulsion of the Russian ambassador, and condemned Putin's aggressive foreign policy, drawing on her personal family history to underscore her opposition to Russian authoritarianism.
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Ivana Bacik was appointed Reid Professor of Criminal Law, Criminology and Penology at Trinity College Dublin Law School in 1996.
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Ivana Bacik taught courses in criminal law; criminology and penology; and feminist theory and law at Trinity.
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Ivana Bacik was a made a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin in 2005.
40.
In 2019, Ivana Bacik was chosen by the Irish Women Lawyers Association as Irish Woman Lawyer of the Year.