Dana is the stage name used by Rosemary Brown, later Dana Rosemary Scallon, a singer and politician from Derry, Northern Ireland, born in 1951. She represents Ireland in the 1970 Eurovision Song Contest as a teenager and wins with “All Kinds of Everything”, giving Ireland its first victory in the competition.

She later has several minor hits in the British and Irish charts and becomes known for religious material, including “Totus Tuus”, which commemorates Pope John Paul II’s visit to Ireland in 1979. In the 1980s, she moves to the United States with her husband, Damien Scallon, and family, where they are involved with a Christian broadcasting network.

Political career

After returning to Ireland in 1997, Dana stands as an independent candidate in the presidential election and finishes third. In 1999, she is elected to the European Parliament as an independent, representing the Connacht-Ulster constituency. She does not align herself with any political party and campaigns on family values, especially in opposition to abortion. Her stance on a proposed constitutional amendment on abortion in 2001 reduces much of her support. She later contests Galway West in the 2002 Irish general election and loses heavily, and she also fails to win a European Parliament seat in 2004. She seeks a nomination for the presidency again in 2004 but does not secure one.