Early Life and Political Career
She is the daughter of former Fianna Fáil minister, Pádraig Flynn, who once famously described her as a "class act". She first stood for election in the June 1994 Mayo West by-election as the Fianna Fáil candidate, but was not successful. The by-election was caused by the appointment of her father Pádraig Flynn as European Commissioner, and was won by Michael Ring of Fine Gael. She was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1997 general election, as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for the Mayo constituency. In 2003, given that her marriage to John Cooper had ended sometime previously, she requested that the media refer to her as Beverley Flynn rather than Beverley Cooper-Flynn.
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