Profile of Roisin Shortall
Proposed by: Mr Tommy Broughan TD and seconded by Deputy Mr Joe Costelloe TD.
Born: 1954.
Marital status: Married with three children.
Career to date: The only woman in the race, Ms Shortall was one of the Labour TDs who swept in to the Dáil on the "Spring tide" in 1992 and has been a high profile backbencher since. She made her first electoral breakthrough in 1991 when she was elected to Dublin Corporation. The outgoing leader left her off the current front bench when she turned down two jobs.
Ms Shortall was the first to publicly criticise Mr Ruairí Quinn after last May's poor election results in which the party failed to win an extra seat. She expressed disappointment at his style of leadership and at the fact he failed to turn around Labour's fortunes.
Strengths: Ms Shortall is forthright and honest and her pluckiness is admired by less courageous colleagues. She has been classified as right wing by some in the Labour Party ranks. She is outspoken and would clearly have support from those who would not have time for Ruairí Mr Quinn or Mr Dick Spring.
Weaknesses: Ms Shortall is clear in her belief that Labour must return to its core values and needs to re-invent itself or risk following Fine Gael's experience at the next election.
However, she has never explicitly outlined how the party can regain the kind of support it won in 1992 under Mr Spring, whom she also criticised. She is seen as the lone post-election dissident, and her support among crucial party loyalists and mainstream members is unlikely to be substantial enough to deliver victory.
Bookies odds: 20/1.