Your Green voice in Kilkenny County Council
My name is Maria Dollard. I am an advocate for disability rights, a freelance trainer in the adult education sector and a Councillor on Kilkenny County Council. Previously, I was an active campaigner with ‘Save Kilkenny’. I am married to Niall who runs the Kilkenny Climate Station from our garden.
I was raised in Callan and as a secondary school student I vividly remember participating in interschool debating competitions. Those debates, on aspects of mental health, helped to open my eyes to inequalities, discrimination and stigmatization. Fr Jim Forrestal, who encouraged and guided us in those debates, believed that by changing the outlook of young people you could change the world. I think he was correct.
Following school, I studied at Limerick School of Art and Design. On graduating, I began my career in adult education teaching in the education unit of Limerick Prison. It was while I was there that I first began to appreciate the importance of the entitlement to education.
Some years later and now back in Kilkenny, I became the advocate for my second child who is autistic. I remember a moment of realisation that if I didn’t lend my voice to my daughter who was unable to use her own, I would be letting her down. I have been an advocate and campaigner ever since. Areas I have covered include autism, disability, planning, climate and biodiversity.Alongside this, I have been a trainer, in the adult education sector, for nearly 30 years. I am currently a freelance trainer at Spectrum Training.
I became a Councillor shortly after the General Election of 2020. The members of the local Green Party voted for me to take over from Malcolm Noonan when he was elected as a TD to Dáil Eireann for the Carlow Kilkenny Constituency. It was both an honour and a challenge as Malcolm had been an excellent Councillor for 16 years.
As Councillor, I keep my focus on an inclusive and welcoming Kilkenny. You can read my priorities for my role as Kilkenny County Councillor.
I sit on the Boards of Kingsriver Community and the Irish Society for Autism and have previously been a Board member of Loughboy Area Resource Centre and School of the Holy Spirit.
