Órfhlaith Begley


Órfhlaith Begley is an Irish Sinn Féin politician. She is the Member of Parliament for the West Tyrone constituency of the British House of Commons, having won the seat in a by-election on 3 May 2018.

Early life and career

Begley was born on 19 December 1991 in Carrickmore, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. She is the daughter of former Sinn Féin Omagh District Council chairman Seán Begley. Begley grew up in Carrickmore, and played Gaelic football at the local club. She studied Law and Politics at the Queen's University Belfast. She then studied at the Institute of Professional and Legal Studies, graduating as a solicitor. Begley then worked as a solicitor in Portadown, County Armagh with her brother.

Political career

Begley was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate for West Tyrone in the 2018 West Tyrone by-election on 26 February. The by-election had been called following the resignation of the previous Sinn Féin MP Barry McElduff on 15 January. She was elected with a majority of 7,956 votes. Begley was the first female MP to represent the constituency since it was created in 1997. She does not sit in the House of Commons per the party's longstanding policy of abstentionism.
She supported the United Kingdom remaining within the European Union in the 2016 UK EU membership referendum.