A Teachta Dála (Irish pronunciation: [ˈtʲaxtə ˈdɑːlə]), usually abbreviated as TD, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" (MP) or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal translation is "Assembly Delegate". "Teachtaí Dála" is the plural form in Irish.

The term was first used to describe those Irish parliamentarians who were elected at the 1918 general election, and who, rather than attending the British House of Commons in London, to which they had been elected, assembled instead in Dublin's Mansion House on 21 January 1919 to create a new Irish parliament: the First Dáil Éireann. The term continued to be used after this First Dáil and was used to refer to later members of the Irish Republic's single chamber Dáil Éireann (or "Assembly of Ireland") (1919–1922), members of the Free State Dáil (1922–1937), and of the modern Dáil Éireann.

Luke 'Ming' Flanagan (born 22 January 1972) is an Irish independent politician. He was elected as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Roscommon–South Leitrim constituency at the 2011 general election. He was previously a county councillor and Mayor of County Roscommon. He is a social campaigner, best known for his long-running campaign to legalise cannabis.

Flanagan is the subject of two documentary films, Dole Éireann, which followed his 1997 Dáil election bid and The Life and Crimes of Citizen Ming which was shot over a longer period, and documents various election bids and tangles with the law. He has continued to campaign for the legalisation of cannabis, and has been convicted on several occasions of possession of the drug for personal use. He served nine days of a 15-day sentence in 1998 in Loughan House open prison, in County Cavan, for refusing to pay a fine imposed for breach of the Litter Pollution Act. He is a lifelong fan of Sligo Rovers. He is a distant relative of the Irish Republican and leader of Sinn Féin Michael O'Flanagan.^{[citation needed]}

Mary Lou McDonald (born 1 May 1969 in Dublin) is an Irish politician, the current Vice President of Sinn Féin and a Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin Central. McDonald was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP), from 2004–2009 representing the Dublin constituency.

Mary Lou McDonald was educated in Trinity College, Dublin, the University of Limerick and Dublin City University studying English Literature, European Integration Studies and Human Resource Management. Her career to date has her involved in diverse roles, including consultant for the Irish Productivity Centre, Institute of European Affairs researcher and trainer in the Partnership Unit of the Educational and Training Services Trust.

Originally a member of Fianna Fáil, she left the party in 1998 in opposition to its economic and social policies. Her sister, Joanne, is a member of the republican group éirígí.

McDonald first ran for office when she unsuccessfully contested the Dublin West constituency for Sinn Féin at the 2002 general election polling 8.02% of first preference votes. She was an unsuccessful candidate in the Dublin Central constituency at the 2007 general election. She contested the Dublin Central again in the 2011 general election this time picking up 13.1% of first preference; she was successful in picking up the last seat in the constituency ahead of the Fianna Fáil candidate Mary Fitzpatrick.

Mary Lou (born March 15, 1992) is an American actress. She is known for playing Mary Ferry on the Nickelodeon television series Unfabulous.

At age 8, she chose to pursue a career in television and film.

Mary Lou’s show business career started at age six when she entertained as a member of Singing Solo (a children's singing group located in La Mesa, CA) at a local street fair with a rendition of The Good Ship Lollipop. After this performance, she chose acting as her career. Over the next few years, Lou went on to sing at over two dozen venues throughout Southern California, Texas and Tennessee, winning multiple local, state, regional, national and world championship titles.

Mary Lou also filmed a guest-starring role on Phil of the Future, as a math-nerd named Alex, in Good Phil Hunting. Mary also appeared on Future Girls: Adventures in Marine Biology and Bad Mother's Handbook and guest starred on What should you do?. More recently Mary was on Glee. She continues to audition daily for feature films, television and voiceover.

Johnny McEvoy (born 24 April 1945) is an Irish singer and entertainer of Country and Irish genre born in Banagher, County Offaly, Ireland.

He was initially part of a duo called "Ramblers Two", the other member being fellow art student Michael Crotty. After a stint touring Ireland and England in the mid-sixties, the two went their separate ways. Johnny McEvoy's first big break came in late 1966 when he recorded "Mursheen Durkin," an old ballad from the west of Ireland. It topped the charts at Number 1 for three consecutive weeks. It was followed by "The Boston Burglar" which also reached No 1 in the charts. In 1966 in Dublin City he was a support act to a then-up and coming band, The Rolling Stones. His first tour to the U.S. was in 1967, highlighted by a concert at New York City's Carnegie Hall. It was at this stage he had his third Number 1 Hit with the song "Nora" (a version of When You and I Were Young, Maggie)," from Sean O'Casey's famous play The Plough And The Stars.

Later Johnny formed a band in the 1970s. He wrote his first song "Long Before Your Time." It too reached Number 1. He went on to write numerous more songs, many of which have become standards that have been recorded by other artists including "Long Before Your Time," "Michael," "Going To California," "The Ballad Of John Williams," "Richman's Garden," "Never Learned To Dance," and "The Ballad of Anne Frank."