Carlow / Kilkenny - Kathleen FUNCHION

Kathleen Funchion is one of the two Sinn Fein candidates standing in the general election for Carlow/Kilkenny.

She is 29 years old and is married to David Cullinane, they have a 4 year old son, Emmet and are expecting their second baby in June.

Kathleen has been an active member of Sinn Féin since 2003 and has been chairperson of South Leinster Sinn Féin. She stood as the candidate for 2007 general election and stood in the European and local elections in 2009, where she won a borough council seat in Kilkenny for Sinn Féin, the first representative to be elected for the party since 1923 in Kilkenny.

Having obtained a first class honours degree in sociology, Kathleen, who comes from a trade union background, is now a trade union organiser for SIPTU.