Eileen Flynn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is so surreal to be elected to the Houses of the Oireachtas. As a member of the Traveller community, to have missed out in the last Seanad by a vote and a half but then to have been nominated by the then Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, I will always be grateful and thankful to him for that opportunity. I can now walk down the corridors of Leinster House and no longer be stopped and have people say, "We put you there" and "There is the Traveller Senator. There she is, there. She was nominated by Micheál Martin". As I said, I will always be grateful.

I thank my team for supporting me and the Civil Engagement Group - Senators Alice-Mary Higgins, Lynn Ruane and Frances Black - who not only stand with me but are always beside me. In any corner in which I need support, I have three great women in my corner. We are still, so far, the only group in the Oireachtas that is an all-women group.

Many people here are celebrating with their mams, dads and families but it is almost 25 years since my mam passed away and it is almost 13 years since my father passed away. Being a member of the Traveller community and born and reared in a hating site, my mam would probably have thought I was the biggest eejit in the world to put myself forward for politics and getting, as she would probably have said, "tortured". My father was a big Fianna Fáiler and he would have been delighted.