Maria Byrne

{{Short description|Irish politician (born 1967)}}

{{Use Hiberno-English|date=August 2024}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}

{{For|the Australian scientist and academic|Maria Byrne (biologist)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = Senator

| image = Maria Byrne, January 2025 (cropped).jpg

| caption = Byrne in 2025

| office = Leas-Chathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann

| 1blankname = Cathaoirleach

| 1namedata = Mark Daly

| term_start = 19 February 2025

| term_end =

| predecessor = Mark Daly

| office1 = Senator

| term_start1 = 21 April 2021

| term_end1 =

| term_start2 = 8 June 2016

| term_end2 = 29 June 2020

| constituency2 = Agricultural Panel

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1967|11|27|df=y}}

| birth_place = Limerick, Ireland

| deat_date =

| death_place =

| party = Fine Gael

| spouse =

| children =

| alma_mater =

}}

Maria Byrne (born 27 November 1967) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as Leas-Chathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann since February 2025.

Byrne served as a member of Limerick City and County Council from 1999 up until her election to Seanad Éireann in April 2016.{{cite web|url=http://www.electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=592|title=Maria Byrne|work=ElectionsIreland.org|access-date=14 July 2019|archive-date=24 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171224172545/https://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=592|url-status=live}} She served as Mayor of Limerick from 2010 to 2011.

She was first elected as a senator on the Agricultural Panel in the 25th Seanad in April 2016. She was the Fine Gael Seanad spokesperson for Education and Skills. At the 2020 general election, she was a Fine Gael candidate for the 33rd Dáil in the Limerick City, but was not elected. She lost her Seanad seat at the 2020 Seanad election, but was a successful candidate at the 2021 Seanad by-elections,{{cite news |first=Mícheál |last=Lehane |date=21 April 2021 |title=Byrne and Horkan elected to Seanad following by-election |url=https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2021/0420/1211089-seanad-by-election/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421063849/https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2021/0420/1211089-seanad-by-election/ |archive-date=21 April 2021 |access-date=21 April 2021 |work=RTÉ News}} for the Agricultural Panel in April 2021.{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Maria-Byrne.S.2016-04-25/|title=Maria Byrne|work=Oireachtas Members Database|access-date=14 July 2019|archive-date=14 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714225219/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Maria-Byrne.S.2016-04-25/|url-status=live}} She was re-elected to the 27th Seanad at the 2025 Seanad election on the Agricultural Panel.{{Cite news |last=Cunningham |first=Paul |date=2025-02-01 |title=All seats on Agricultural Panel in Seanad election filled |url=https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2025/0201/1494161-seanad-election-counts/ |language=en}}

She was elected as Leas-Chathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann on 19 February 2025.{{Cite journal |journal=Seanad Debates |date=19 February 2025 |title=Election of Leas-Chathaoirleach |volume=304 |issue=3 |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/seanad/2025-02-19/3/ |access-date=8 March 2025 |language=en-ie}}