Beverley Flynn

Beverley Flynn (born 9 June 1966) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Mayo constituency from 1997 to 2011.^[1]

She is the daughter of the former Fianna Fáil minister and European commissioner, Pádraig Flynn, who once described her as a "class act".^[2] She first stood for election in the June 1994 Mayo West by-election as the Fianna Fáil candidate, but was not successful. The by-election was caused by the appointment of her father as Ireland's European commissioner and was won by Michael Ring of Fine Gael. She was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1997 general election, as a Fianna Fáil TD for the Mayo constituency.^[3] In 2003, given that her marriage to John Cooper had ended some time previously, she requested that the media refer to her as Beverley Flynn rather than Beverley Cooper-Flynn.

The RTÉ journalist Charlie Bird claimed in a report that, while an employee of National Irish Bank, Flynn had assisted clients of the bank in evading tax by funnelling undeclared income to Clerical Medical schemes based in the Isle of Man. She denied the claims and sued RTÉ, Bird and retired farmer James Howard for libel in the High Court in 2001. The jury found that although RTÉ had not proved its case (it was a different employee who had handled Howard's account), the allegations were found to be substantially true (that RTÉ had proved Flynn had encouraged others to avail of illegal investment schemes). Thus, despite Flynn technically winning the case, she was awarded no damages as her reputation was not materially damaged), along with costs being awarded against her. Flynn appealed against the decision to the Supreme Court, where she lost.^[4]

Flynn ha tenido una relación difícil con Fianna Fáil. Se vio obligada a renunciar al partido en febrero de 1999 por negarse a apoyar una moción del Gobierno contra su padre, pero se reincorporó en noviembre de 1999. En abril de 2001, fue expulsada de nuevo por su caso de difamación, ^{[ 13 ]} pero se le permitió reincorporarse antes de las elecciones generales de 2002. Fue expulsada de nuevo en mayo de 2004, tras los resultados de su apelación por difamación. Una sección de Fianna Fáil que había seguido apoyando a Flynn fue disuelta por la sede del partido, un hecho sin precedentes para el partido. Se presentó con éxito a las elecciones generales de 2007 como independiente y fue elegida en el octavo recuento. Fue readmitida en Fianna Fáil una vez más, en una reunión de su comité ejecutivo nacional el 3 de abril de 2008, ^{[ 14 ]} en lo que se ha descrito como "circunstancias cuestionables". ^{[ 15 ]}

After she rejoined Fianna Fáil, controversy arose about Flynn's entitlement to a tax-free allowance available to independent TDs.^[16][17] This allowance is to allow independent TDs to compete with those who are from a political party on level terms for the duration of their term as an elected representative. However, upon her return to Fianna Fáil there were questions about whether or not she continued to qualify.

She responded that, in addition to her €106,000 basic salary, she qualified for the €41,000 allowance as she won her seat as an independent TD.^[16] After meeting with the Taoiseach Brian Cowen on 6 January 2009, she stated that she would no longer claim the allowance. She also stated that the allowance was used to benefit her constituents.^[18]

She retired from politics at the 2011 general election.^[19] In the period from 2011 to 2014, she received pension and lump sums of around €194,921.^[20]