Ruane grew up in
Tallaght; she became a single mother and left school aged 15.[2] After returning to education via
An Cosán,[3] she studied addiction and helped to develop local services for drug users.[2]
University politics
In 2012, she completed a
foundation programme to allow access to a degree programme at
Trinity College Dublin (TCD), and studied politics and philosophy.[2] Having spent a year representing student parents on the Trinity College Dublin Students' Union executive, she was elected as the union's president on 12 February 2015,[4] which gained national attention.[5][6] As president, she was active in the
fossil fuel divestment campaign at TCD,[7] and the campaign to
repeal the Eighth Amendment.[8]
National politics
In December 2015, Ruane announced her intention to contest the
2016 Seanad election in the
Dublin University constituency as an independent candidate.[9] She was elected to represent Trinity graduates in the
Oireachtas on the 15th and final count, unseating incumbent
Sean Barrett.[10][11] She was re-elected at the
2020 Seanad election, reaching the quota on the eighth count.
In the
25th Seanad, Ruane sits with the
Civil Engagement group; an alliance of independent senators seeking to bring civil society expertise and experience into the Oireachtas.
In May 2017, Ruane introduced the Controlled Drugs and Harm Reduction Bill to the Seanad which proposed
removing criminal sanctions for minor drug possession.[12][13] In February 2019, Ruane introduced the Criminal Justice (Rehabilitative Periods) Bill to the Seanad which proposed expanding access to
spent convictions,[14] where it passed unanimously.[15] She has subsequently been referred to as "a long-time campaigner for
drug reform in Ireland."[16] She and
Green PartyTDNeasa Hourigan have called for a
citizens' assembly on drugs.[17] Ruane asserts that drug prohibition has never worked and in 2021 signed an open letter by over 100 Irish youth workers and former youth workers calling for an end to drug prohibition and the legal regulation of drugs in Ireland. The letter has also been signed by senator
Eileen Flynn.[18][19]
She was vice-chair of the special Joint Oireachtas Committee on the
Eighth Amendment, which was established to examine the repeal of Ireland's constitutional ban on abortion and recommend the legal grounds to access an
abortion in Ireland.[20]
In 2016, Ruane played a juror on the
TV3 historical courtroom drama Trial of the Century.[22][23]
In September 2018, Ruane published a memoir entitled People Like Me.[24][25] The memoir reached number one on the Irish paperback non-fiction charts and won the 2018
An PostIrish Book Award for best non-fiction.[26][27] She was also a contributor to the collection of memoirs and essays called The 32: An Anthology of Irish Working-Class Voices.[28][29][30]