Born in 1959 in Cork, Ireland. Ms Clune qualified as a Civil Engineer at University College Cork in 1980 and has worked with Delap & Waller, Roughton & Partners and Arup. She also obtained a Higher Diploma in Environmental Engineering in 1996. Ms Clune is a former Member of the Irish Parliament (1997-2002, 2007-2011) and the Upper House of Parliament (2011-2014). She was elected Lord Mayor of Cork in 2005. During her time in parliament, she was Deputy Spokeswoman on Enterprise with special responsibility for innovation. She was also the Fine Gael Spokeswoman on Environmental Information and Protection, Arts, Heritage, ‘Gaeltacht’ and the Islands. MEP since 2014.