Cllr Dwane-Stanley has been nominated as one of the Irish representatives for the EU Committee of the Regions for its next five-year term from 2025 to 2030.
Members are entitled to claim back travel and subsistence as part of the role, it is understood. All parties get to put forward a representative.
The role of the Committee of the Regions is mostly as a consultative and advisory body which represents the interests of city and county councils as part of the EU policy and legislative framework.
There can be a maximum of 329 members on the committee and Ireland gets to nominate nine full-time members and nine “alternate” members, who attend when a full-time member is unavailable.
Cllr Dwane-Stanley is the only Sinn Féin elected representative in Laois for Sinn Féin following Mr Stanley’s resignation from the party.
Mr Stanley, a senior Sinn Féin member for over 40 years who was the chairman of the Dáil’s public spending watchdog, left the party in recent weeks. He accused the party of using a “kangaroo court” against him while investigating a complaint, a claim which has been strongly rejected by the party.
Brian Stanley. Photo: Gareth Chaney
Sinn Féin referred a complaint made against Mr Stanley and a counter-complaint from Mr Stanley to An Garda Síochana after he resigned from the party.
Speaking in recent days, the Councillor thanked her local community for the support she has received.
“It is a difficult time but we will get through it – we are getting huge support from many people in the community,” she told the Leinster Express/Laois Live.
“The amount of people that have contacted us is phenomenal. At the end of the day, they are the people who put me in my job and I am very grateful to them for their support,” she said.
Fine Gael’s candidate in Dublin Bay South and general election candidate in Dublin Bay South, Cllr Emma Blain, has also been added on to the committee by Fine Gael.
The party also has put forward Cllr Jimmy McClearn and Cllr Eileen Lynch.
Cllr Michael Cahill, who is running to be a Fianna Fáil TD in Kerry, has also been put forward, as well as Cllr Clare Colleran Molloy and Cllr Gillian Coughlan.
Former Dublin Lord Mayor, Cllr Dermot Lacey, was put forward by the Labour Party and Cllr Declan McDonnell is an independent representative.
The places are allocated based on the local elections and having regard to gender and regional balance, according to a Government spokesperson.
