About Nadaline
Background
Raised in the mountains of Tipperary, Nadaline comes from a farming and racing family. "A friend used to say to me that they breed those mountain women tough and I think that's true. There's a sort of tenacity that comes from a rural life with animals in very isolated areas - when you spent a fair chunk of your formative years trying to persuade sheep that they can, in fact, go back out through the same gap they came in."
"I also think it can be difficult to understand the strength and importance of rural communities and how they function if you haven't grown up in rural Ireland", she says. "When you don't have a huge amount of resources and tough jobs to do, pulling together, helping each other and supporting each other builds communities in a way I have never seen in any other setting. Those communities are very much under threat now from pretty much every angle and that needs to be pushed back against."
She is passionate about farming, the environment and in particular dogs and horses. "There are pros and cons to every childhood environment, whether that is in a city or in the country but growing up in more isolated areas with animals as your constant companions gives you a deeper appreciation for them than you might otherwise have. And you are responsible for and to them in a way that doesn't really apply to household pets."
However, she admits that she isn't a farmer in the strict sense of the word today. "My partner is an organic tillage and suckler farmer and my role consists of things like standing in that gap when I'm told to, delivering cold drinks and food to different fields and workmen and nursing any of the babies that need extra support which is the bit I particularly like. I probably should have thought more about being a vet!"
Professional Expertise
With a background in law & business, Nadaline found her home in the legal technology start-up world, focused on the intellectual property practice area. The start-up sector is one that demands effective and intelligent decision-making, action and delivery of targets and is notoriously unkind to those who fail to deliver. She is very proud to have been part of teams that brought two young companies to an equity event - an achievement that is rare in that setting!
A few years ago, her career took a turn with the increasing encroachment on the rights of farmers and she turned her hand to defending against the massive injustices that are being levied, not just on farmers, but all of rural Ireland. "Few people in rural Ireland have yet understood just how badly all of us will be impacted by what is coming down the road but we are beginning to see the shape of it", she says.
Passionately interested in defending not just farmers but the country as a whole and the right of the Irish people to shape and design their own destinies, she brings a unique skill set to the table as a TD - a love for and understanding of law and intended and unintended consequences of legislation, able to grasp and communicate complexities quickly, focused and pragmatic solution finding that seeks to strike a balance between competing rights and is a fearless and articulate advocate.
"I think that the world is moving so fast with so many legal, scientific and practical complexities involved in policy making that many TDs are simply out of their depth. I don't mean that unkindly. But we need to recognise that if you don't understand the full consequences of what you are voting on, then there is potential to do a lot of unintended harm to the people you represent."