Aideen Hayden

Aideen Hayden (born 1959) is an Irish solicitor, chairperson of the Threshold housing agency and Labour Party politician.

From County Carlow, Hayden is a graduate of University College Dublin.

She unsuccessfully contest the 2011 Seanad election for the Industrial and Commercial Panel. In May 2011, she was nominated by the Taoiseach Enda Kenny to the 24th Seanad. She is the Labour Party Seanad spokesperson on Housing, Children and Youth Affairs.

In 2016, she ran for the NUI Panel for the Seanad as an Independent but was not elected.

Aideen Hayden was born in County Carlow. She moved to Dublin and attended St Joseph of Cluny Secondary School. Hayden did a Bachelors of Economics and History in University College Dublin.

Hayden qualified as a solicitor and practiced 1989-2008.

She became Chair of Threshold in 1999. She was also a Board Member of the Private Residential Tenancies Board 2004-2011. She resigned her Board membership when she was appointed to the Seanad.

Hayden received a PhD in Housing Policy from University College Dublin in 2014.

Hayden was appointed to the Seanad by Taoiseach Enda Kenny. She joined the Labour group in the Seanad. She later replaced Susan O'Keefe as Labour Whip.

She has held positions as Spokesperson on Housing, Children and Youth Affairs and Spokesperson Housing, Spokesperson on Finance and Spokesperson on European Affairs.

Hayden introduced a private member's motion to establish schemes for distressed mortgage holders which received cross-party support.

Hayden was Vice-Chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform.