Election 2020: Maurice Quinlivan (Sinn Féin)

Limerick City candidate is elected on first count

Maurice Quinlivan been highly critical of the overcrowding crisis at University Hospital Limerick. Photograph: Aidan Crawley

Maurice Quinlivan been highly critical of the overcrowding crisis at University Hospital Limerick. Photograph: Aidan Crawley

 

Sinn Féin’s rising popularity in the lead-up to voting day meant that Maurice Quinlivan’s re-election was practically inevitable.

His party’s spokesman on jobs, workers’ rights and pay equality, Quinlivan has been a strong campaigner for the introduction of the living wage.

He has also been highly critical of the overcrowding crisis at University Hospital Limerick and has fought for increased investment for Limerick City and for more social and affordable housing.

A native of Ballynanty in Limerick city, Quinlivan is married to Sue Quinlivan. He was first elected to Limerick City Council in 2009 and was re-elected in 2014 when he topped the poll.

The 52-year-old is a brother of Nessan Quinlivan, a former Provisional IRA member who escaped from Brixton prison with his cellmate Pearse McAuley. In 1999, McCauley was convicted of the manslaughter of Det Garda Jerry McCabe.

Quinlivan originally gained prominence in the 2016 campaign for being defamed by Willie O’Dea. He was heavily involved in a number of groups dealing with drug abuse.