Mol an óige: Senator Nicole Ryan

Nicole Ryan is a 33-year-old Sinn Féin Senator on the Administrative Panel. She talks with Gareth Hamill about her drug education activism, pregnancy loss support, and her future legislative plans.

Despite being one of the youngest members of the Seanad, Senator Ryan says she had no interest in politics growing up.

“I did not think about politics until probably my late twenties. I did not grow up in a political household, and I would not have associated politics with my everyday life.”

Born in Ukraine, Ryan moved to Ireland aged six and grew up in Millstreet in north Cork with her younger brother and mother.

Joined during the interview by her three-month-old child, the Sinn Féin Senator’s office remains open while she is on maternity leave, and she is already thinking about her return to the Seanad.

“I do not want to waste my time and am not taking it for granted because I might not be back next term. If I can do as much as I can to help people now, then that is a win for me.”

Ryan studied to become a marine and plant engineer at the National Maritime College of Ireland before leaving to work for Irish Ferries.

Alex’s Adventure

In January 2016, shortly after beginning this job, Ryan’s brother Alex was hospitalised following an overdose from a synthetic substance called ‘N-Bomb’, prompting Ryan to immediately return home. Following a few days in intensive care, Alex died aged 18.

Ryan subsequently chose to stay with her mother instead of returning to her job with Irish Ferries.

“I decided to come home and support her as opposed to just running away to sea because it was the easier option at the time. I could not leave her grieving her youngest child alone.”

In March 2016, in memory of her late brother, Ryan started Alex’s Adventure, a drug education initiative for schoolchildren.

“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are not looking after everyday people, to be honest. It is more so the elites or the bankers and developers.”
Senator Nicole Ryan

“We were thrown into the limelight, and I started to notice there is a narrative around people who use drugs that was not necessarily always accurate or fair to the person. And I wanted Alex’s story to be one that young people could learn from.”

At the same time, Ryan began studying for a diploma in substance abuse and addiction counselling at University College Cork.

After nine years of work on Alex’s Adventure, which provided education to over 10,000 pupils across Ireland and won Ryan the Pride of Cork award in 2021, she stopped the project after becoming a Senator.

Reflecting on her activism, she notes the personal importance it held: “I did it more so for him and for myself. I had a lot of grief at the time, and I did not know what to do with it. This was a way of channelling some of that pain, loss, and grief into something productive.”

Political origins

Ryan’s activism was a major catalyst for her involvement in politics, stating: “It was Alex’s Adventure that got me thinking about politics because I thought that I cannot get the impact I want if policy does not change.”

Additionally, her experience with the healthcare system following a pregnancy loss pushed Ryan further towards party politics.

“In 2024, before I ran, I suffered a miscarriage and went through the medical system, and I felt it was not great. And I thought I cannot be the only woman that has gone through this. Something has to change.”

Therefore, when the opportunity presented itself, Ryan submitted herself to be the Sinn Féin candidate for the Cork North-West constituency in the 2024 general election and was successfully selected.

Although Ryan was eliminated on the sixth count, her 7,530 votes was the most ever for a Sinn Féin candidate in the constituency which has only ever elected Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael TDs.

Reflecting on the “phenomenal campaign”, Ryan says, “We do not have a huge number of activists or members in the constituency, so I was really proud of the team and myself for even trying it.”

Ryan says she was drawn to Sinn Féin because “they were speaking to working-class people”.

She adds: “Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are not looking after everyday people, to be honest. It is more so the elites or the bankers and developers, but people are suffering and struggling right now, and to me that is what Sinn Féin was saying and therefore that was the party for me.”

Ryan adds that party leader Mary Lou McDonald TD is her political idol and says “being a woman in politics, I thought she was fantastic”, noting that “it is a lot harder than you would imagine”.

Seanad experience

After nearly 18 months as a Senator, Ryan says that trying to effect change can be a frustrating process: “One thing that I do have a hard time grappling with is just how slow things get done sometimes.”

To improve the Seanad, Ryan wants the public to be able to vote for their Senators, saying, “I think if we are going to be put into the Seanad, then we must be accountable to everybody else as well. I think the Seanad would be very different if that were the case.”

When asked about her goals as a Senator, Ryan says, “If I can get once piece of legislation through each year then I would be very happy, that would be a very good achievement for me.”

“Going through postpartum myself now, having that support of your partner during those first few weeks, is quite important for a new mum.”
Senator Nicole Ryan

Maternity rights

Ryan has introduced two bills in her time as a senator. The first of these was the Pregnancy Loss Bill, which proposed for women to receive five days of paid leave, and their partner two-and-a-half days, if they suffer a miscarriage.

This was introduced in May 2025, before being delayed by the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Peter Burke TD.

However, in July 2026, after this interview was conducted, the Government approved a proposal from the Minister to draft a Leave for Pregnancy Loss Bill which will provide five days of paid leave for women who miscarry.

Ryan says she will continue to push for the introduction of a certificate of pregnancy loss, a proposal contained within her original legislation which was missing from the Government’s bill.

In January 2026, Ryan also introduced the Maternity Protection Bill which would allow a woman to postpone her maternity leave by up to 52 weeks in the event of a miscarriage.

This bill was also stalled by the Government, but Ryan is hopeful it will eventually become law.

When she returns from maternity leave, Ryan also intends to introduce legislation to increase the amount of statutory paternity leave given to new fathers, which is currently two weeks, as she says this time can have a huge impact on the lives of the mother and child.

“Going through postpartum myself now, having that support of your partner during those first few weeks, is quite important for a new mum.”

Domestic abuse

Another area of focus for Ryan during her Seanad term is improving domestic abuse legislation. Ryan has publicly revealed that, as a child, she witnessed her mother being domestically abused.

Motivated by this, Ryan introduced an amendment to the Domestic Violence Bill in July 2025 which made sentencing stricter if a child was present at the time of the abuse.

This amendment was accepted by the Government which Ryan says she was “delighted about”.

Ryan plans to continue her work in this area and has additional plans for legislation: “I am looking at the justice system to see why there is a high rate of people who are clearly dangerous on bail and what could be done around that.”

Asked about the importance of politicians speaking about personal issues such as miscarriages or abuse publicly, Ryan says: “I think it should be a criteria to be honest. I think sometimes politicians are so far removed from everyday people.

“When you have a politician that stands up and says, ‘This is my experience, this is what has happened to me, I am coming from a place of understanding and empathy, this is why I am doing it,’ I think that gives people hope.”

Ukraine

Following the Russian invasion of the country of her birth, Ryan says the Irish population’s reaction was incredible.

“There were many people that opened their homes to people, and it was a real testament to Irish people of how we can rally together and help people that we do not know that are suffering in another place.”

However, she says the Government could have handled the situation more effectively. “Initially, it was great, but they gave so many supports and then they started to take them away abruptly without any plan afterwards.

“I understand it was a temporary measure so it is understandable that it is being cut but there should have been forethought from the Government to cut it in a way that was manageable for people.”

Ryan no longer has any relatives living in Ukraine. Her aunt and cousin came to Ireland during the war and her grandparents, including her grandfather who was a lieutenant colonel in the KGB, died when she was a child.

Despite not having many memories of her family life in Ukraine, Ryan says: “I know that if my grandparents were alive today, they would be horrified at what is happening because Ukraine is their home. So thankfully, they are not alive to see it.”

Future ambitions

Ryan plans to run again in the next general election in a bid to become Sinn Féin’s first ever TD for the Cork North-West constituency. On the key areas of focus for the area, she says: “I think in our constituency it is around schools, SNAs (special needs assistants), and special education, which here is a huge need.

“Anything medical or health wise as well, and of course housing. Here we are rural, so people are not building apartment blocks in rural areas, therefore our housing is very limited and when people come into the office the main issue that they have is housing.”

Speaking about her personal ambitions should her party enter government in the future, Ryan refuses to rule anything out: “Would I want a ministerial role? I do not know. I really do not. It is a lot of pressure. But I just see how things go. It has been my motto ever since my brother passed, just throw yourself into an opportunity and see how it works.”

Concluding, Ryan outlines why she thinks young people should become politically involved: “The decisions that we are making as a collective, in the Dáil and the Seanad, are impacting the youth and the next generation.

“So, if you do not have a seat at the table, you cannot influence change. So that is why we need young people.

“You have to think about politics in a way that I wish I had when I was younger, which is that all these decisions affect my life every single day.”