Since her election, Kathy has taken to her role as an MEP with great enthusiasm. She is a member of several committees, including the Petitions Committee which she sees as vital. "It acts as a watchdog over the EU," she says. "I'm particularly interested in the Petitions Committee because it gives ordinary people the chance to have a direct input and it scrutinises the decisions that are made".

It is this sense of accountability that is central to her political ethos and is also central to her opposition to the Lisbon Treaty for which she is advocating a no vote.

She is sometimes characterised in the media as representing the views of the religious right. She is anti-abortion and on some issues certainly socially conservative but this is an oversimplification. Not belonging to a party makes it more difficult to pin her down. In the parliament she is a member of the Independence and Democracy grouping which is eurosceptic in nature. Its largest member is the UK Independence Party who advocate Britain's complete withdrawal from the EU and it does contain other members who could be described as on the far right of mainstream politics.

That said, Sinnott's views often don't follow simple left or right stereotypes. Her advocacy of disabled rights and the need for state intervention come from the left of the political spectrum. "For me, it's all about respect for the person," she says.

"The first question I ask myself, whenever I vote is ‘how is this going to effect the people I represent?' I make a point of talking to those involved to get the best idea I can about what it will mean for them.

"For example, if we are making a decision about fisheries I will talk to fishermen. If it's on agriculture I will ask farmers and so on".

In this respect her approach can be seen as individualist, or centred on the individual. She says that she is proud of every vote she has cast as she always votes for what she genuinely believes is the right reason.

"In particular I always try to protect the most vulnerable in society," she says. "That's my main priority and I will never knowingly be part of something that makes life harder instead of easier for the most vulnerable".

So what's wrong with the Lisbon Treaty and why does she believe the Irish people should reject it? "There's a lot of misinformation going on right now, from both sides. I want to see everybody properly informed first of all before they are asked to vote. We can't expect people to make up their minds if they don't know what they are voting for or against."

For Kathy though it comes back to the rights of the individual and for her the treaty threatens those rights.

"I have read the treaty and I see it as damaging democracy at every level, that's my principal objection. It reduces Irish representation at Commission level along with many other small countries and gives the larger countries too much influence.

"The six biggest nations are set to benefit drastically and disproportionately while the democracy in the Council and Commission is weakened further."

She accepts, that as far as the European Parliament goes Lisbon gives it more power, but warns that there are other consequences too in her view.

"The Constitutional Affairs Committee has already warned that it is worried about possible future changes to the electoral system that will make the Parliament less representative in the future. I can see it becoming less and less representative e and connected to the people".

The bottom line for Kathy Sinnott is that she believes Lisbon is taking Europe in the wrong direction.

"It's going away from the people, not towards them," she says. "I trust the people to make the right decisions and that's the problem with many in the EU, they don't. They are not bad people, they genuinely want what they think is best but they think it is their right to make those decisions for the public and that is not democracy".

She concludes, "If there was proper democratic representation in the first place, they wouldn't need this treaty at all".