Cynthia Murphy was born in Carlow. Her parents were Brendan Murphy and Columba Murphy (née Brophy). Her mother was involved in local Fine Gael politics in Carlow. She adopted the Irish language version of her surname, Ní Mhurchú, at the age of fifteen.[1] She attended Holy Family Askea Girls School, St Leo's College and Carysfort College, where she trained as a primary school teacher.[1]
Career
Ní Mhurchú initially worked as a teacher in an Irish language school in Carlow and then spent ten years working as a journalist and presenter in RTÉ, RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta and as a freelancer. During the 1990s, she presented RTÉ's Lotto draw and the Irish language current affairs broadcast, Cúrsaí.[2] She has also been a web columnist for several years and has written extensively on education, training and careers.
Ní Mhurchú joined Fianna Fáil as she felt it supported the Irish language.[4] In 1992, Ní Mhurchú was approached by the party to run in Dublin South-East in the 1992 Irish general election but declined the offer as she wanted to study for the bar.[1]
She was selected by Fianna Fáil to contest the South constituency at the 2024 European Parliament election.[5] Ní Mhurchú received 55,209 (8.0%) first preference votes and was elected on the 20th count.[6]
Ní Mhurchú has described her political views as "centrist, slightly left of centre."[7]
Personal life
Ní Mhurchú is married to John Kavanagh and has two children.[1] She is a fluent Irish speaker.[8]
^Murphy, Catherine (16 October 2011). "Female TV Presenters: There is only one Queen Bee". Sunday Independent. Retrieved 16 October 2011. Other female faces from the 1990s also moved on from their TV careers — among them Ciana Campbell who now works in PR in the west of Ireland, and Cynthia Ni Mhurchu, now a barrister.
