Róisín Shortall (65) was one of the Labour TDs who swept in to the Dáil on the "Spring tide" in 1992 and has been a high-profile TD since then.
She made her first electoral breakthrough in 1991 when she was elected to Dublin Corporation.
She started the Dáil term in 2011 as a Labour minister of state for health having secured an historic two seats for the party for the first time in the constituency.
But she ended the five years estranged from Labour and in opposition; she then became a founding member of a new political party, the Social Democrats, which she now co-leads alongside Catherine Murphy.
Shortall is also a former primary school teacher and is married with three daughters.
Born and reared in Drumcondra, Shortall attended Dominican College, Eccles Street and then UCD where she graduated with a BA in economics and politics.
