Jennifer Whitmore

{{Short description|Irish politician and environmentalist (born 1974)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-suffix = TD

| image = Jennifer Whitmore 2024 (cropped).jpg

| caption = Whitmore in 2024

| office = Teachta Dála

| term_start = February 2020

| term_end =

| constituency = Wicklow

| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1974|6}} {{cite book |last=Ryan |first=Tim |author-link= |date= |title=Nealon's Guide to the 33rd Dáil and 26th Seanad and the 2019 Local and European Elections |url= |location= |publisher=The Irish Times |page=160 |isbn=}}

| birth_place = Wexford, Ireland

| death_date =

| death_place =

| party = Social Democrats

| spouse = Tony Whitmore

| children = 4

| alma_mater = {{Ubl|Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology|University of Ulster|University of Sydney}}

| website = {{URL|jenniferwhitmore.ie}}|

}}

Jennifer Whitmore (born June 1974) is an Irish Social Democrats politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wicklow constituency since the 2020 general election.{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08/|title=Jennifer Whitmore|work=Oireachtas Members Database|access-date=15 February 2020|archive-date=15 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215210634/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/election-2020-jennifer-whitmore-social-democrats-1.4169173|title=Election 2020: Jennifer Whitmore (Social Democrats)|work=The Irish Times|first=Carl|last=O'Brien|date=11 February 2020|access-date=11 February 2020|archive-date=2 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502034509/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/election-2020-jennifer-whitmore-social-democrats-1.4169173|url-status=live}}

Early life and education

Whitmore is from Wexford. She gained two diplomas at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology and later graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biological Science and Ecology from the University of Ulster. During the ten years she resided in Australia, she studied Environmental Law at the University of Sydney.{{cite web|url=https://www.jenniferwhitmore.ie/about-jennifer/|title=About|website=Jennifer Whitmore|access-date=10 February 2020|archive-date=23 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923195103/https://www.jenniferwhitmore.ie/about-jennifer/|url-status=live}}

Career

Whitmore has worked in both local and international ecology and environmentalism as well as with the Government of New South Wales, Australia. In 2015, she founded the East Wicklow Rivers Trust.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

She was elected to represent the Greystones local electoral area on the Wicklow County Council, following the 2014 local elections. In July 2015, she helped co-found the Social Democrats as a party and became the party's Spokesperson for Children.{{cite news |author= |date=22 September 2017 |title=Whitmore will be candidate in the next General Election |url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/braypeople/news/whitmore-will-be-candidate-in-the-next-general-election-36148585.html |work=Bray People |access-date=11 February 2020 |quote=Cllr Whitmore is a founding member of the Social Democrats and has represented the people of the Greystones Municipal District as a councillor since 2014. |archive-date=2 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502034509/https://www.independent.ie/regionals/braypeople/news/whitmore-will-be-candidate-in-the-next-general-election-36148585.html |url-status=live }}

Whitmore was elected as a Social Democrat TD for the Wicklow constituency following the 2020 general election. In the election, she came ahead of former Social Democrats TD and leader Stephen Donnelly who left the party after just one year, citing difficulties in cooperating with the other leaders.{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/some-partnerships-simply-dont-work-stephen-donnelly-quits-social-democrats-in-major-blow-for-party-35022379.html|title='Some partnerships simply don't work' - Stephen Donnelly quits Social Democrats in major blow for party|first=Kevin|last=Doyle|newspaper=Irish Independent|date=5 September 2016|access-date=5 September 2016|archive-date=23 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923195106/https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/stephen-donnelly-quits-social-democrats-but-has-yet-to-decide-to-whether-to-go-solo-or-join-a-party-35022379.html|url-status=live}}

In September 2021, Whitmore tabled a Just Transition Bill in the Dáil; the Bill was deliberately almost identical to one the Green Party had tabled in 2017 while in opposition but had been voted down. At the time, Green leader Eamon Ryan called their proposed bill a "critical piece of the architecture" of any policy on climate action. One amendment Whitmore did make however was to define the term "Just Transition", as the previous version of the bill did not. Whitmore said the bill would define "just transition" as a green transition that ensures the economic and social consequences of the climate emergency are managed to maximise "opportunities of decent work for all, reduce inequalities, promote social justice, and support industries, workers and communities negatively affected".{{cite news |last=Moore |first=Aoife |date=15 September 2021 |title=Social Democrats to table 'just transition' bill to manage climate change consequences |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/politics/arid-40698569.html |work=Irish Examiner |location= |access-date=15 October 2021}}{{cite news |last=Crosson |first=Kayle |date=17 September 2021 |title=Jennifer Whitmore on the Just Transition Bill |url=https://greennews.ie/jennifer-whitmore-just-transition-bill/ |work= |location= |access-date=15 October 2021}}

At the 2024 general election, Whitmore was re-elected to the Dáil.{{cite web|url=https://www.electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=11939|title=Jennifer Whitmore|work=ElectionsIreland.org|access-date=7 March 2025}}