Pádraig Rice (born 1990) is an Irish Social Democrats politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork South-Central constituency since the 2024 general election.

[7] After completing a master's degree in Public Policy at the University of Oxford, Rice returned to Cork, where he coordinated the Gay Project from 2018 to 2020.

Rice was also involved in the movement to repeal the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution (which outlawed abortion) as Secretary of Cork Together for Yes and organised LGBT+ for Yes events.

In August 2024 Rice called for the removal of prayers and religious iconography, including a crucifix, from Cork City Council meetings.

He emphasised the importance of a clear separation between church and state and noted that council meetings should be inclusive "of people from all faiths and none".

Rice pointed out that as the Catholic Church's special position was removed from the Constitution in 1972, the continued presence of religious symbols in the council chamber felt outdated.