Speaker Bios

Mr. Matthew O’Toole MLA

Matthew O’Toole MLA is a Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician who has served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the Belfast South constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly since January 2020. Matthew was previously Chief Press Officer for Europe at Number 10 Downing Street between 2015 and 2017. As a civil servant, he helped coordinate UK Government communications efforts during the EU referendum campaign and in its aftermath, through to the beginning of the formal Brexit negotiations. He left Downing Street last Autumn.

Prior to this, he served as economic spokesperson and Head of Strategic Communications at HM Treasury. He began his career as journalist.

He now works for communications form Powerscourt, as well as occasional journalism. His has written on politics and Brexit for the Irish Times, Guardian and Politico, among others, and appeared on both the British and Irish media.

Further Information can be found at:

https://www.ucc.ie/en/government-and-politics/news/jean-monnet-lecture-series-may-2018.html

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