Mary McAleese
Encyclopedia
Mary Patricia McAleese served as the eighth President of Ireland
from 1997 to 2011. She was the second female president and was first elected in 1997 succeeding Mary Robinson
, making McAleese the world's first woman to succeed another as president. She was re-elected unopposed for a second term in office in 2004. McAleese is the first President of Ireland to have come from either Northern Ireland
or Ulster
.
McAleese graduated in Law from Queen's University Belfast. In 1975, she was appointed Professor of Criminal Law, Criminology and Penology at Trinity College, Dublin
and in 1987, she returned to her Alma Mater, Queen's, to become Director of the Institute of Professional Legal Studies. In 1994, she became the first female Pro-Vice Chancellor of Queen's University of Belfast. She worked as a barrister
and also worked as a journalist
with RTÉ
.
McAleese has used her time in office to address issues concerning justice
, social equality
, social inclusion, anti-sectarianism
and reconciliation. She has described the theme of her Presidency as "Building Bridges". This bridge-building materialised in her attempts to reach out to the unionist community in Northern Ireland. These steps included celebrating the Twelfth of July
at Áras an Uachtaráin
and she even incurred criticism from some of the Irish Catholic hierarchy by taking communion in an Anglican
Cathedral in Dublin. Despite being a practicing Roman Catholic, she holds liberal views regarding homosexuality
and women priests
. She is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders
and was ranked the 64th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes. In spite of some minor controversies, McAleese remained popular and her Presidency is regarded as successful.
, north Belfast
, McAleese was the eldest of nine children. She is a Roman Catholic. Her family was forced to leave the area by loyalists
when The Troubles
broke out. Educated at St Dominic's High School, she also spent some time when younger with the Poor Clares, Queen's University Belfast (from which she graduated in 1973), and Trinity College, Dublin
. She was called to the Northern Irish Bar
in 1974, and remains a member of the Irish Bar
. She opposes abortion
and divorce
.
In 1976, she married Martin McAleese
, an accountant
and dentist by profession. He has assisted his wife with some of her initiatives as president. They have three children: Emma, born 1982, graduated as an engineer from University College Dublin
and is a dentistry student at Trinity College, Dublin; twin
s: Justin, an accountant with a master's degree
from University College Dublin, and SaraMai, who obtained a master's degree in biochemistry
at the University of Oxford
were born in 1985.
, Criminology
and Penology
in Trinity College, succeeding Mary Robinson
.
During the same decade she was legal advisor to and a founding member of the Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform
. She left this position in 1979 to join RTÉ
as a journalist and presenter during one period as a reporter and presenter for their Today Tonight programme. However, in RTÉ she and Alex White (then TV producer and now Labour Party TD) were attacked and criticised by a group led by Eoghan Harris
associated with the Workers' Party
over what they perceived as her bias towards Republican groups in the North. McAleese was critical of the Provisional IRA but believed it was important to hear their side of the story; she opposed the Harris faction's support for Section 31 which she believed was an attack on free speech. In 1981, she returned to the Reid Professorship, but continued to work part-time for RTÉ for a further four years. In 1987, she returned to Queen's University to become Director of the Institute of Professional Legal Studies. In the same year, she stood, unsuccessfully, as a Fianna Fáil
candidate in the Dublin South East
constituency at the general election
, receiving 2,243 votes (5.9%).
McAleese was a member of the Catholic Church Episcopal Delegation to the New Ireland Forum in 1984, and a member of the Catholic Church delegation to the Northern Ireland Commission on Contentious Parades in 1996. She was also a delegate to the 1995 White House
Conference on Trade and Investment in Ireland and to the subsequent Pittsburgh Conference in 1996. She became the Pro-Vice Chancellor of The Queen's University of Belfast. Prior to becoming president in 1997, McAleese had also held the following positions: Director of Channel 4 Television
, Director, Northern Ireland Electricity
, Director, Royal Group of Hospitals Trust and Founding member of the Irish Commission for Prisoners Overseas.
, an international network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers whose mission is to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development.
Albert Reynolds
in an internal party election held to determine the Fianna Fáil
nomination for the Irish presidency.
Her opponents in the 1997 presidential election
were Mary Banotti
of Fine Gael
, Adi Roche
of the Labour Party
candidate, and two independents: Dana Rosemary Scallon
and Derek Nally
.
McAleese won the Presidency with 45.2% of first preference votes. In the second and final count against Banotti, she won 58.7% of preferences. On 11 November 1997, she was inaugurated as the eighth President of Ireland. Within weeks of this she made her first official overseas trip to Lebanon
.
McAleese described the theme of her presidency as "building bridges". The first individual born in Northern Ireland to become President of Ireland, President McAleese was a regular visitor to Northern Ireland throughout her presidency, where she was on the whole warmly welcomed by both communities, confounding critics who had believed she would be a divisive figure. People from Northern Ireland, indeed people from right across the nine-county Province of Ulster
, were regular and recurring visitors to Áras an Uachtaráin
while she was there. She is also an admirer of Queen Elizabeth II
, whom she came to know when she was Pro-Vice Chancellor of Queen's
. In March 1998, President McAleese announced that she would officially celebrate the Twelfth of July as well as Saint Patrick's Day
, recognising the day's importance among Ulster
Protestants.
She also incurred some criticism from some of the Irish Catholic
hierarchy by taking communion in an Anglican (Church of Ireland
) Cathedral in Dublin on 7 December 1997, although 78 percent of Irish people approved of her action in a following opinion poll. While Cardinal Desmond Connell
called her action a "sham" and a "deception", Taoiseach
Bertie Ahern
said it was ironic that "the Church was condemning an act of reconciliation and bridge-building between the denominations."
. Following the failure of any other candidate to secure the necessary support for nomination, the incumbent president stood unopposed, with no political party affiliation, and was declared elected on 1 October. She was re-inaugurated at the commencement of her second seven year term on 11 November. McAleese's very approval ratings were widely seen as the reason for her re-election, with no opposition party willing to bear the cost (financial or political) of competing in an election that would prove difficult to win.
On 27 January 2005, following her attendance at the ceremony commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp
, she created friction by referring to the way some Protestant children in Northern Ireland had been raised to hate Catholics, just as European children "for generations, for centuries" were encouraged to hate Jews
. These remarks provoked outrage among unionist politicians
. McAleese later apologised, conceding that her comments had been unbalanced because she had criticised only the sectarianism found on one side of the community.
She was the Commencement Speaker
at Villanova University
in Villanova
, Pennsylvania
, on 22 May 2005. The visit prompted protests by conservatives because of the President's professing heterodox Roman Catholic views on homosexuality and women in priesthood. She was the commencement speaker at the University of Notre Dame
on 21 May 2006. In her commencement address, among other topics, she spoke of her pride at Notre Dame's Irish heritage, including the nickname the "Fighting Irish
".
She attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II
on 8 April 2005 and the Papal Inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI
on 24 April.
McAleese attended the canonization by Pope Benedict XVI
in Rome
of Charles of Mount Argus
on 3 June 2007. She was accompanied by her husband, Martin
, Cardinal Desmond Connell
, Mary Hanafin
, the Minister for Education and Science, together with bishops and other pilgrims. She later met the Pope and embarked on other official duties, including a trip to St. Isidore's College, a talk at the Pontifical Irish College
and a Mass
said especially for the Irish Embassy at Villa Spada chapel.
In August 2007, she spoke out against homophobia at the International Association of Suicide Prevention 24th Biennial Conference.
She paid a seven-day visit to Hollywood in December 2008 alongside Enterprise Ireland
and the Irish Film Board
on a mission to promote the Irish film and television industry. A reception held in her honour was attended by Ed Begley, Jr.
and Fionnula Flanagan. She later met the Governor of California
, Arnold Schwarzenegger
.
On 21 January 2009, she signed into law the Anglo Irish Bank Corporation Act 2009 at a ceremony in Áras an Uachtaráin, facilitating the nationalisation
of Anglo Irish Bank
. Forbes
named her among the hundred most powerful women in the world later that year. In November, she signed into law the National Asset Management Agency
.
McAleese undertook an official two-day visit to London on 28–29 February 2010, where she visited the site of the 2012 Summer Olympics
and was guest of honour at the Madejski Stadium
for a rugby union
match between London Irish
and Harlequin F.C.
On 13 May 2010, she attended the Balmoral Show at the Balmoral Showgrounds, which includes the King's Hall, in south Belfast. Northern Irish Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness
and Northern Agriculture Minister Michelle Gildernew
gave her breakfast and walked around with her during the day.
She began an official visit to New York
for several days, on 16 May 2010. She began by appearing at an Irish Voice
event in honour of life science. She then addressed business leaders at the New York Stock Exchange
to say Irish people were "as mad as hell" over the Irish banking crisis, and opened the An Gorta Mór (Great Famine) exhibition with a speech promising that Ireland's foreign policy focussed on global hunger. She was also present at St. Patrick's Cathedral for a Famine mass and went to the Battery Park
's Irish Hunger Memorial to see the official New York commemoration of the 19th century Irish Famine. On 22 May 2010, she delivered the keynote address at Fordham University
's 165th Commencement.
She opened the Bloom Festival
, Ireland's largest gardening show, on 3 June 2010, acknowledging an improved interest in gardening in Ireland, particularly among younger people. On 13 June 2010, McAleese began an official visit to China
. She met with Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping
and the pair spoke for 35 minutes over lunch.
She made an official visit to the Russian Federation with Minister of State, Billy Kelleher
, for four days in September 2010 and met with President Dmitry Medvedev
. She spoke kindly of Mikhail Gorbachev
, officially invited Medvedev to Ireland, and addressed students at a university in Saint Petersburg
. On her state tour to Russia, highlighting the importance of competence, she launched an unprecedented attack on the Central Bank of Ireland for their role in the financial crisis
which resulted in tens of thousands of people in mortgage arrears.
The president turned down an invitation to be Grand Marshal
at the 250th St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York City planned for 2011. The parade organisers refuse to allow gay people to march under their banner, and there was media speculation that this was the reason for the refusal. A spokesperson for the President's office stated that, while honoured by the invitation, she could not attend because of "scheduling constraints".
In March 2011, President McAleese invited Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
to make a state visit
to the Republic of Ireland
. The Queen accepted and the visit took place
from 17–20 May 2011, the first state visit by a British monarch to the Republic of Ireland. McAleese had been eager to have the Queen visit Ireland, and the event was widely welcomed as a historic success.
In past media interviews, prior to the Queen's visit, President McAleese had stated on several occasions that the highlight of her presidency to date was the opening ceremony of the 2003 Special Olympics World Games
which she describes as "a time when Ireland was at its superb best". While opening the National Ploughing Championships
in County Kildare
in September 2011 she spoke of her sadness that she would soon no longer be President, saying: "I'm going to miss it terribly…I'll miss the people and the engagement with them."
Mary McAleese made her final overseas visit as head of state to Lebanon
in October 2011, the location of her very first official overseas visit in 1997. While there she met with Lebanese president Michel Suleiman
. Before her trip to Lebanon she visited Derry
on one of her last official engagements to Northern Ireland, becoming the inaugural speaker at the first Conversations Across Walls and Borders event in First Derry Presbyterian Church. She voluntarily donated more than 60 gifts given to her over the 14 years, and worth about €100,000, to the Irish state.
McAleese left office on 10 November 2011 and was succeeded by Michael D. Higgins
who was elected in the presidential election held on 27 October 2011.
On 10 November 2011, her last day in office, she thanked Ireland for her two terms in an article in The Irish Times
. She performed her last official public engagement at a hostel for homeless men in Dublin in the morning and spent the afternoon moving out of Áras an Uachtaráin.
Second term
Humanitarian Award. On 31 October 2007, she was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws from the University of Otago
, New Zealand
. On 19 May 2009, she became the third living person to be awarded the freedom of Kilkenny
, succeeding Brian Cody
and Séamus Pattison
. The ceremony, at which she was presented with two hurley
s, took place at Kilkenny Castle
. On 24 May 2009, she was awarded an honorary doctorate of law from Mount Holyoke College
in South Hadley, Massachusetts
. On 22 May 2010, she was awarded an honorary doctorate of law from Fordham University
, in the Bronx
, New York, where she delivered the commencement speech to the class of 2010.
President of Ireland
The President of Ireland is the head of state of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...
from 1997 to 2011. She was the second female president and was first elected in 1997 succeeding Mary Robinson
Mary Robinson
Mary Therese Winifred Robinson served as the seventh, and first female, President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1997 to 2002. She first rose to prominence as an academic, barrister, campaigner and member of the Irish Senate...
, making McAleese the world's first woman to succeed another as president. She was re-elected unopposed for a second term in office in 2004. McAleese is the first President of Ireland to have come from either Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
or Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
.
McAleese graduated in Law from Queen's University Belfast. In 1975, she was appointed Professor of Criminal Law, Criminology and Penology at Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
and in 1987, she returned to her Alma Mater, Queen's, to become Director of the Institute of Professional Legal Studies. In 1994, she became the first female Pro-Vice Chancellor of Queen's University of Belfast. She worked as a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
and also worked as a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
with RTÉ
Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...
.
McAleese has used her time in office to address issues concerning justice
Justice
Justice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics; justice is the act of being just and/or fair.-Concept of justice:...
, social equality
Social equality
Social equality is a social state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in a certain respect. At the very least, social equality includes equal rights under the law, such as security, voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, and the...
, social inclusion, anti-sectarianism
Sectarianism
Sectarianism, according to one definition, is bigotry, discrimination or hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions within a group, such as between different denominations of a religion, class, regional or factions of a political movement.The ideological...
and reconciliation. She has described the theme of her Presidency as "Building Bridges". This bridge-building materialised in her attempts to reach out to the unionist community in Northern Ireland. These steps included celebrating the Twelfth of July
The Twelfth
The Twelfth is a yearly Protestant celebration held on 12 July. It originated in Ireland during the 18th century. It celebrates the Glorious Revolution and victory of Protestant king William of Orange over Catholic king James II at the Battle of the Boyne...
at Áras an Uachtaráin
Áras an Uachtaráin
Áras an Uachtaráin , formerly the Viceregal Lodge, is the official residence of the President of Ireland. It is located in the Phoenix Park on the northside of Dublin.-Origins:...
and she even incurred criticism from some of the Irish Catholic hierarchy by taking communion in an Anglican
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
Cathedral in Dublin. Despite being a practicing Roman Catholic, she holds liberal views regarding homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
and women priests
Catholic Church doctrine on the ordination of women
The Roman Catholic Church doctrine on the ordination of women, as expressed in the current canon law and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, is that: "Only a baptized man validly receives sacred ordination." Insofar as priestly and episcopal ordination are concerned, the Church teaches that this...
. She is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders
Council of Women World Leaders
The Council of Women World Leaders is a network of current and former women prime ministers and presidents established in 1996 by Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, President of Iceland and first woman in the world to be democratically elected president, and Laura Liswood, Secretary General...
and was ranked the 64th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes. In spite of some minor controversies, McAleese remained popular and her Presidency is regarded as successful.
Background and family life
Born Mary Patricia Leneghan in ArdoyneArdoyne
Ardoyne is an Irish nationalist, working class and mainly Catholic district in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. It gained notoriety due to the large number of incidents during "The Troubles". It is home to approximately 20,000 inhabitants...
, north Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, McAleese was the eldest of nine children. She is a Roman Catholic. Her family was forced to leave the area by loyalists
Ulster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
when The Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
broke out. Educated at St Dominic's High School, she also spent some time when younger with the Poor Clares, Queen's University Belfast (from which she graduated in 1973), and Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
. She was called to the Northern Irish Bar
Bar of Northern Ireland
The Bar of Northern Ireland, or Northern Irish Bar, is the association of barristers for Northern Ireland, comprising as at September 2007 just under 600 members....
in 1974, and remains a member of the Irish Bar
Bar Council of Ireland
The Bar Council of Ireland is the regulatory and representative body for barristers practising law in the Republic of Ireland. The Council is composed of twenty-five members composed of twenty elected members, four co-opted members and Attorney-General who holds office ex officio. The elected...
. She opposes abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
and divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
.
In 1976, she married Martin McAleese
Martin McAleese
Martin McAleese is a member of Seanad Éireann and the husband of the former President of Ireland, Mary McAleese.-Early life and education:He played with the Antrim Minors and was captain of the team in 1969. He trained and worked as an accountant and then qualified as a dentist.He practiced as a...
, an accountant
Accountant
An accountant is a practitioner of accountancy or accounting , which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and others make decisions about allocating resources.The Big Four auditors are the largest...
and dentist by profession. He has assisted his wife with some of her initiatives as president. They have three children: Emma, born 1982, graduated as an engineer from University College Dublin
University College Dublin
University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...
and is a dentistry student at Trinity College, Dublin; twin
Twin
A twin is one of two offspring produced in the same pregnancy. Twins can either be monozygotic , meaning that they develop from one zygote that splits and forms two embryos, or dizygotic because they develop from two separate eggs that are fertilized by two separate sperm.In contrast, a fetus...
s: Justin, an accountant with a master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
from University College Dublin, and SaraMai, who obtained a master's degree in biochemistry
Biochemistry
Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...
at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
were born in 1985.
Early career
In 1975, she was appointed Reid Professor of Criminal LawCriminal law
Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
, Criminology
Criminology
Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society...
and Penology
Penology
Penology is a section of criminology that deals with the philosophy and practice of various societies in their attempts to repress criminal activities, and satisfy public opinion via an appropriate treatment regime for persons convicted of criminal offenses.The Oxford English Dictionary defines...
in Trinity College, succeeding Mary Robinson
Mary Robinson
Mary Therese Winifred Robinson served as the seventh, and first female, President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1997 to 2002. She first rose to prominence as an academic, barrister, campaigner and member of the Irish Senate...
.
During the same decade she was legal advisor to and a founding member of the Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform
Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform
The Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform was an organisation set up to campaign for the decriminalisation of homosexuality in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in the 1970s...
. She left this position in 1979 to join RTÉ
Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...
as a journalist and presenter during one period as a reporter and presenter for their Today Tonight programme. However, in RTÉ she and Alex White (then TV producer and now Labour Party TD) were attacked and criticised by a group led by Eoghan Harris
Eoghan Harris
Eoghan Harris is an Irish journalist, fiction writer, director, columnist and politician. He currently writes for the Sunday Independent. He was a member of Seanad Éireann from 2007–11, having been nominated by the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern....
associated with the Workers' Party
Workers' Party of Ireland
The Workers' Party is a left-wing republican political party in Ireland. Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970 after a split within the party, adopting its current name in 1982....
over what they perceived as her bias towards Republican groups in the North. McAleese was critical of the Provisional IRA but believed it was important to hear their side of the story; she opposed the Harris faction's support for Section 31 which she believed was an attack on free speech. In 1981, she returned to the Reid Professorship, but continued to work part-time for RTÉ for a further four years. In 1987, she returned to Queen's University to become Director of the Institute of Professional Legal Studies. In the same year, she stood, unsuccessfully, as a Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
candidate in the Dublin South East
Dublin South East (Dáil Éireann constituency)
Dublin South–East is a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas. The constituency elects 4 deputies...
constituency at the general election
Irish general election, 1997
The Irish general election of 1997 was held on Friday, 6 June 1997. The 166 newly elected members of the 28th Dáil assembled on 26 June 1997 when a new Taoiseach and government were appointed....
, receiving 2,243 votes (5.9%).
McAleese was a member of the Catholic Church Episcopal Delegation to the New Ireland Forum in 1984, and a member of the Catholic Church delegation to the Northern Ireland Commission on Contentious Parades in 1996. She was also a delegate to the 1995 White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
Conference on Trade and Investment in Ireland and to the subsequent Pittsburgh Conference in 1996. She became the Pro-Vice Chancellor of The Queen's University of Belfast. Prior to becoming president in 1997, McAleese had also held the following positions: Director of Channel 4 Television
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, Director, Northern Ireland Electricity
Northern Ireland Electricity
Northern Ireland Electricity Limited is the electricity asset owner of the transmission and distribution infrastructure in Northern Ireland. NIE does not own generate or supply electricity. NIE is a subsidiary of ESB Group....
, Director, Royal Group of Hospitals Trust and Founding member of the Irish Commission for Prisoners Overseas.
Presidency
McAleese is a member of the Council of Women World LeadersCouncil of Women World Leaders
The Council of Women World Leaders is a network of current and former women prime ministers and presidents established in 1996 by Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, President of Iceland and first woman in the world to be democratically elected president, and Laura Liswood, Secretary General...
, an international network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers whose mission is to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development.
First term (1997–2004)
In 1997, McAleese defeated former TaoiseachTaoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...
Albert Reynolds
Albert Reynolds
Albert Reynolds , served as Taoiseach of Ireland, serving one term in office from 1992 until 1994. He has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize...
in an internal party election held to determine the Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
nomination for the Irish presidency.
Her opponents in the 1997 presidential election
Irish presidential election, 1997
-References:...
were Mary Banotti
Mary Banotti
Mary Elizabeth Banotti is an Irish former Fine Gael politician.-Early life and education:Mary O'Mahony was born in Dublin...
of Fine Gael
Fine Gael
Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...
, Adi Roche
Adi Roche
Adi Roche is a campaigner for peace, humanitarian aid, and education. She is the chief executive of Irish-based charity Chernobyl Children's Project International, and in November 2010 received the Health Award at the World of Children Awards ceremony.-Campaign work:As founder and chief executive...
of the Labour Party
Labour Party (Ireland)
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William X. O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. Unlike the other main Irish...
candidate, and two independents: Dana Rosemary Scallon
Dana Rosemary Scallon
Dana Rosemary Scallon , known in her singing career simply as Dana, is an Irish singer and former Member of the European Parliament ....
and Derek Nally
Derek Nally
Derek Nally was an unsuccessful candidate in the 1997 Irish presidential election, the only male to stand in that election. A retired Garda and victims' rights campaigner, he received the nominations of five county councils. He received 59,529 votes – the lowest of the five...
.
McAleese won the Presidency with 45.2% of first preference votes. In the second and final count against Banotti, she won 58.7% of preferences. On 11 November 1997, she was inaugurated as the eighth President of Ireland. Within weeks of this she made her first official overseas trip to Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
.
McAleese described the theme of her presidency as "building bridges". The first individual born in Northern Ireland to become President of Ireland, President McAleese was a regular visitor to Northern Ireland throughout her presidency, where she was on the whole warmly welcomed by both communities, confounding critics who had believed she would be a divisive figure. People from Northern Ireland, indeed people from right across the nine-county Province of Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
, were regular and recurring visitors to Áras an Uachtaráin
Áras an Uachtaráin
Áras an Uachtaráin , formerly the Viceregal Lodge, is the official residence of the President of Ireland. It is located in the Phoenix Park on the northside of Dublin.-Origins:...
while she was there. She is also an admirer of Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
, whom she came to know when she was Pro-Vice Chancellor of Queen's
Queen's University of Belfast
Queen's University Belfast is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The university's official title, per its charter, is the Queen's University of Belfast. It is often referred to simply as Queen's, or by the abbreviation QUB...
. In March 1998, President McAleese announced that she would officially celebrate the Twelfth of July as well as Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day is a religious holiday celebrated internationally on 17 March. It commemorates Saint Patrick , the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of :Ireland, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. It is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion , the Eastern...
, recognising the day's importance among Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
Protestants.
She also incurred some criticism from some of the Irish Catholic
Irish Catholic
Irish Catholic is a term used to describe people who are both Roman Catholic and Irish .Note: the term is not used to describe a variant of Catholicism. More particularly, it is not a separate creed or sect in the sense that "Anglo-Catholic", "Old Catholic", "Eastern Orthodox Catholic" might be...
hierarchy by taking communion in an Anglican (Church of Ireland
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
) Cathedral in Dublin on 7 December 1997, although 78 percent of Irish people approved of her action in a following opinion poll. While Cardinal Desmond Connell
Desmond Connell
Desmond Connell is a cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. He is a former Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland. He was born in Dublin....
called her action a "sham" and a "deception", Taoiseach
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...
Bertie Ahern
Bertie Ahern
Patrick Bartholomew "Bertie" Ahern is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 26 June 1997 to 7 May 2008....
said it was ironic that "the Church was condemning an act of reconciliation and bridge-building between the denominations."
Second term (2004–2011)
McAleese's initial seven year term of office ended in November 2004, but she had announced on 14 September that she would stand for a second term in the 2004 presidential electionIrish presidential election, 2004
The Irish presidential election of 2004 was set for 22 October 2004. However, nominations closed at noon on 1 October and the incumbent president, Mary McAleese, who had nominated herself in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, was the only person nominated. Accordingly, she was...
. Following the failure of any other candidate to secure the necessary support for nomination, the incumbent president stood unopposed, with no political party affiliation, and was declared elected on 1 October. She was re-inaugurated at the commencement of her second seven year term on 11 November. McAleese's very approval ratings were widely seen as the reason for her re-election, with no opposition party willing to bear the cost (financial or political) of competing in an election that would prove difficult to win.
On 27 January 2005, following her attendance at the ceremony commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
, she created friction by referring to the way some Protestant children in Northern Ireland had been raised to hate Catholics, just as European children "for generations, for centuries" were encouraged to hate Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
. These remarks provoked outrage among unionist politicians
Unionism in Ireland
Unionism in Ireland is an ideology that favours the continuation of some form of political union between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain...
. McAleese later apologised, conceding that her comments had been unbalanced because she had criticised only the sectarianism found on one side of the community.
She was the Commencement Speaker
Commencement speech
A commencement speech or commencement address is a speech given to graduating students, generally at a university, although the term is also used for secondary education institutions. The "commencement" is a ceremony in which degrees or diplomas are conferred upon graduating students...
at Villanova University
Villanova University
Villanova University is a private university located in Radnor Township, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States...
in Villanova
Villanova, Pennsylvania
Villanova is a community in the United States Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It straddles Lower Merion Township of Montgomery County and Radnor Township of Delaware County. It is located at the center of the Pennsylvania Main Line, a series of highly affluent Philadelphia suburban towns located...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, on 22 May 2005. The visit prompted protests by conservatives because of the President's professing heterodox Roman Catholic views on homosexuality and women in priesthood. She was the commencement speaker at the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
on 21 May 2006. In her commencement address, among other topics, she spoke of her pride at Notre Dame's Irish heritage, including the nickname the "Fighting Irish
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame's nickname is inherited from Irish immigrant soldiers who fought in the Civil War with the Union's Irish Brigade, , recollected among other places in the poetry of Joyce Kilmer who served with one of the Irish Brigade regiments during World War I...
".
She attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II
Funeral of Pope John Paul II
The funeral of Pope John Paul II was held on 8 April 2005, six days after his death on 2 April. The funeral was followed by the novemdiales devotional in which the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches observe nine days of mourning....
on 8 April 2005 and the Papal Inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
on 24 April.
McAleese attended the canonization by Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
of Charles of Mount Argus
Charles of Mount Argus
Saint Charles of Mount Argus was a well known Passionist priest in 19th century Ireland. He was born Joannes Andreas Houben on the 11 December 1821 in the village of Munstergeleen in the Province of Limburg in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. He joined the Passionists in 1845 at Ere in Belgium...
on 3 June 2007. She was accompanied by her husband, Martin
Martin McAleese
Martin McAleese is a member of Seanad Éireann and the husband of the former President of Ireland, Mary McAleese.-Early life and education:He played with the Antrim Minors and was captain of the team in 1969. He trained and worked as an accountant and then qualified as a dentist.He practiced as a...
, Cardinal Desmond Connell
Desmond Connell
Desmond Connell is a cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. He is a former Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland. He was born in Dublin....
, Mary Hanafin
Mary Hanafin
Mary Hanafin is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who was a Teachta Dála for Dún Laoghaire from 1997 to 2011. She served as Government Chief Whip , Minister for Education and Science , Minister for Social and Family Affairs , Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport and Minister for Enterprise,...
, the Minister for Education and Science, together with bishops and other pilgrims. She later met the Pope and embarked on other official duties, including a trip to St. Isidore's College, a talk at the Pontifical Irish College
Pontifical Irish College
The Pontifical Irish College is a Roman Catholic seminary for the training and education of priests, in Rome.-Foundation and early history:Towards the close of the sixteenth century, Pope Gregory XIII had sanctioned the foundation of an Irish college in Rome, and had assigned a large sum of money...
and a Mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
said especially for the Irish Embassy at Villa Spada chapel.
In August 2007, she spoke out against homophobia at the International Association of Suicide Prevention 24th Biennial Conference.
She paid a seven-day visit to Hollywood in December 2008 alongside Enterprise Ireland
Enterprise Ireland
Enterprise Ireland is the Irish leading state economic development agency focused on helping Irish-owned business deliver new export sales. The core mission of Enterprise Ireland is to accelerate the development of Irish enterprises capable of achieving strong positions in global markets resulting...
and the Irish Film Board
Irish Film Board
The Irish Film Board is Ireland’s national film agency and major film funding body. It was recommended for abolition by the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes in 2009.-Formative years:...
on a mission to promote the Irish film and television industry. A reception held in her honour was attended by Ed Begley, Jr.
Ed Begley, Jr.
Edward James "Ed" Begley, Jr. is an American actor and environmentalist. Begley has appeared in hundreds of films, television shows, and stage performances. He is best known for his role as Dr. Victor Ehrlich, on the television series St...
and Fionnula Flanagan. She later met the Governor of California
Governor of California
The Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...
, Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
.
On 21 January 2009, she signed into law the Anglo Irish Bank Corporation Act 2009 at a ceremony in Áras an Uachtaráin, facilitating the nationalisation
Anglo Irish Bank hidden loans controversy
The Anglo Irish Bank hidden loans controversy began in the Republic of Ireland in December 2008 when the chairman of Anglo Irish Bank, Ireland's third largest bank, admitted he had hidden a total of €87 million in loans from the bank, triggering a series of incidents which led to the eventual...
of Anglo Irish Bank
Anglo Irish Bank
Anglo Irish Bank was a bank based in Ireland with its headquarters in Dublin from 1964 to 2011. It went into wind-down mode after nationalisation in 2009....
. Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
named her among the hundred most powerful women in the world later that year. In November, she signed into law the National Asset Management Agency
National Asset Management Agency
The National Asset Management Agency is a body created by the Government of Ireland in late 2009. It is in response to the Irish financial crisis and the deflation of the Irish property bubble....
.
McAleese undertook an official two-day visit to London on 28–29 February 2010, where she visited the site of the 2012 Summer Olympics
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the "London 2012 Olympic Games", are scheduled to take place in London, England, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
and was guest of honour at the Madejski Stadium
Madejski Stadium
The Madejski Stadium is a stadium in Reading, Berkshire, England. The stadium is the home of Reading Football Club and to the rugby union club London Irish as tenants. It also provides the finish for the Reading Half Marathon...
for a rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
match between London Irish
London Irish
London Irish RFC is an English rugby union club based in Sunbury, Surrey, where the senior squad train, the youth teams and senior academy play home games, and the club maintain their administrative offices. The senior squad play home games at the Madejski Stadium in Reading and compete in the top...
and Harlequin F.C.
Harlequin F.C.
The Harlequin Football Club is an English rugby union team who play in the top level of English rugby, the Aviva Premiership. Their ground in London is Twickenham Stoop...
On 13 May 2010, she attended the Balmoral Show at the Balmoral Showgrounds, which includes the King's Hall, in south Belfast. Northern Irish Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness
Martin McGuinness
James Martin Pacelli McGuinness is an Irish Sinn Féin politician and the current deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. McGuinness was also the Sinn Féin candidate for the Irish presidential election, 2011. He was born in Derry, Northern Ireland....
and Northern Agriculture Minister Michelle Gildernew
Michelle Gildernew
Michelle Gildernew is an Irish republican Sinn Féin politician and former Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development in the Northern Ireland Executive...
gave her breakfast and walked around with her during the day.
She began an official visit to New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
for several days, on 16 May 2010. She began by appearing at an Irish Voice
Irish Voice
The Irish Voice is a newspaper published in New York City, New York. It focuses on news and stories from an Irish-American perspective. The paper was first published in the fall of 1987 and was targeted at the new Irish immigrants who were moving in large numbers into the US.-Origins:The paper was...
event in honour of life science. She then addressed business leaders at the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
to say Irish people were "as mad as hell" over the Irish banking crisis, and opened the An Gorta Mór (Great Famine) exhibition with a speech promising that Ireland's foreign policy focussed on global hunger. She was also present at St. Patrick's Cathedral for a Famine mass and went to the Battery Park
Battery Park
Battery Park is a 25-acre public park located at the Battery, the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City, facing New York Harbor. The Battery is named for artillery batteries that were positioned there in the city's early years in order to protect the settlement behind them...
's Irish Hunger Memorial to see the official New York commemoration of the 19th century Irish Famine. On 22 May 2010, she delivered the keynote address at Fordham University
Fordham University
Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...
's 165th Commencement.
She opened the Bloom Festival
Bloom Festival
Bloom Festival is Ireland's largest gardening show. It is a popular five-day event, held each year in Phoenix Park, Dublin. It was first held in 2007, and is organised by Bord Bia....
, Ireland's largest gardening show, on 3 June 2010, acknowledging an improved interest in gardening in Ireland, particularly among younger people. On 13 June 2010, McAleese began an official visit to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. She met with Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping is a high ranking politician of the People's Republic of China. He currently serves as the top-ranking member of the Secretariat of the Communist Party of China, the country's Vice President, Vice-Chairman of the Central Military Commission, President of the Central Party School and the...
and the pair spoke for 35 minutes over lunch.
She made an official visit to the Russian Federation with Minister of State, Billy Kelleher
Billy Kelleher
Billy Kelleher is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He has been a Teachta Dála for the Cork North Central constituency since 1997....
, for four days in September 2010 and met with President Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev is the third President of the Russian Federation.Born to a family of academics, Medvedev graduated from the Law Department of Leningrad State University in 1987. He defended his dissertation in 1990 and worked as a docent at his alma mater, now renamed to Saint...
. She spoke kindly of Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
, officially invited Medvedev to Ireland, and addressed students at a university in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
. On her state tour to Russia, highlighting the importance of competence, she launched an unprecedented attack on the Central Bank of Ireland for their role in the financial crisis
which resulted in tens of thousands of people in mortgage arrears.
The president turned down an invitation to be Grand Marshal
Grand Marshal
Grand Marshal is a ceremonial, military, or political office of very high rank. The term has its origins with the word "Marshal" with the first usage of the term "Grand Marshal" as a ceremonial title for certain religious orders...
at the 250th St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York City planned for 2011. The parade organisers refuse to allow gay people to march under their banner, and there was media speculation that this was the reason for the refusal. A spokesperson for the President's office stated that, while honoured by the invitation, she could not attend because of "scheduling constraints".
In March 2011, President McAleese invited Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
to make a state visit
State visit
A state visit is a formal visit by a foreign head of state to another nation, at the invitation of that nation's head of state. State visits are the highest form of diplomatic contact between two nations, and are marked by ceremonial pomp and diplomatic protocol. In parliamentary democracies, heads...
to the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. The Queen accepted and the visit took place
Queen Elizabeth II's visit to the Republic of Ireland
Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh made a state visit to the Republic of Ireland from 17 May to 20 May 2011, at the invitation of the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese....
from 17–20 May 2011, the first state visit by a British monarch to the Republic of Ireland. McAleese had been eager to have the Queen visit Ireland, and the event was widely welcomed as a historic success.
In past media interviews, prior to the Queen's visit, President McAleese had stated on several occasions that the highlight of her presidency to date was the opening ceremony of the 2003 Special Olympics World Games
2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games
The 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games were hosted in Ireland, with participants staying in various host towns around the island in the lead up to the games before moving to Dublin for the events. Events were held from 21 June-29 June 2003 at many venues including Morton Stadium, the Royal...
which she describes as "a time when Ireland was at its superb best". While opening the National Ploughing Championships
National Ploughing Championships
The Irish National Ploughing Championships take place each year in the month of September. The 2012 Championships will be held at Heathpark, New Ross, Co. Wexford. The first inter- county ploughing contest took place in 1931 as a result of an argument between two lifelong friends, Denis Allen of...
in County Kildare
County Kildare
County Kildare is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county...
in September 2011 she spoke of her sadness that she would soon no longer be President, saying: "I'm going to miss it terribly…I'll miss the people and the engagement with them."
Mary McAleese made her final overseas visit as head of state to Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
in October 2011, the location of her very first official overseas visit in 1997. While there she met with Lebanese president Michel Suleiman
Michel Suleiman
Michel Suleiman or Sleiman is the President of Lebanon. Before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces. After LAF commander Émile Lahoud took office as president in November of 1998, Suleiman succeeded him, taking his place in December...
. Before her trip to Lebanon she visited Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
on one of her last official engagements to Northern Ireland, becoming the inaugural speaker at the first Conversations Across Walls and Borders event in First Derry Presbyterian Church. She voluntarily donated more than 60 gifts given to her over the 14 years, and worth about €100,000, to the Irish state.
McAleese left office on 10 November 2011 and was succeeded by Michael D. Higgins
Michael D. Higgins
Michael Daniel Higgins is the ninth and current President of Ireland, having taken office on 11 November 2011 following victory in the 2011 Irish presidential election. Higgins is an Irish politician, poet, sociologist, author and broadcaster. Higgins was President of the Labour Party until his...
who was elected in the presidential election held on 27 October 2011.
On 10 November 2011, her last day in office, she thanked Ireland for her two terms in an article in The Irish Times
The Irish Times
The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...
. She performed her last official public engagement at a hostel for homeless men in Dublin in the morning and spent the afternoon moving out of Áras an Uachtaráin.
Meetings
| No. | Article | Reserve power | Subject | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 1999 meeting | Address to the Oireachtas Oireachtas The Oireachtas , sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the "national parliament" or legislature of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of:*The President of Ireland*The two Houses of the Oireachtas :**Dáil Éireann... |
The new millennium Millennium A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years —from the Latin phrase , thousand, and , year—often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system.... |
Address given |
| 2. | 2000 meeting | Referral of bill to the Supreme Court | Planning and Development Bill, 1999 Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Bill, 1999 |
Sections of both bills referred (Both upheld) |
| 3. | 2002 meeting | Referral of bill to the Supreme Court | Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill, 2001 | Bill not referred |
| 4. | 2004 meeting | Referral of bill to the Supreme Court | Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2004 | Bill referred (Struck down) |
| 5. | 2009 meeting | Referral of bill to the Supreme Court | Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009 Defamation Bill 2009 |
Bills not referred |
| 6. | 2010 meeting | Referral of bill to the Supreme Court | Credit Institutions (Stabilisation) Bill 2010 | Signed without referral |
Presidential appointees
First term- Gordon Brett
- Brian CrowleyBrian CrowleyBrian Crowley is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and a Member of the European Parliament for the South constituency. He was co-president of the Union for Europe of the Nations group in the European Parliament in which Fianna Fáil sat until it joined the ELDR and, by extension, ALDE...
- Ruth Curtis
- Christina Carney Flynn
- Stanislaus KennedyStanislaus KennedySister Stanislaus Kennedy , often called Sister Stan, is an Irish member of the Sisters of Charity. She is best known for having co-founded, in 1985, the homelessness charity Focus Ireland and is Life President of the organisation. In 2001, she also set up as a response to the social needs of...
- Martin NaughtonMartin NaughtonMartin Naughton , an Irish entrepreneur, founded Glen Electric in November 1973 with a small manufacturing facility employing just ten people in Newry, Co. Down, Northern Ireland. In 1977, Dimplex, the leading brand in the UK electrical heating market was acquired by Glen Electrics forming the Glen...
- Noel Stewart
Second term
- Harvey BickerHarvey BickerColonel Harvey Bicker OBE TD is a Northern Irish businessman and Fianna Fáil politician from Spa, County Down, though he is originally from Lisburn. He is a member of the President of Ireland's Council of State. Bicker was formerly a councillor serving on Down District Council as a member of the...
- Anastasia Crickley
- Mary DavisMary Davis (Special Olympics)Mary Davis is an Irish social entrepreneur and long-term campaigner for the rights and inclusion of children and adults with intellectual disabilities...
- Martin ManserghMartin ManserghMartin Mansergh is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician and historian. He was a Teachta Dála for the Tipperary South constituency from May 2007 until his defeat at the general election in February 2011. He was previously a senator from 2002 to 2007.He has played a leading role in formulating...
- Enda MarrenEnda MarrenEnda Marren is a solicitor and a member of the Irish Council of State. Born December 12, 1934 in Killasser, Swinford, Co. Mayo. The son of Patrick Marren and Eileen Horkan. After a primary education at Knocks National School, where his parents were his teachers, he went to Rockwell College near...
- Denis MoloneyDenis MoloneyDenis Moloney, OBE LLD is a Solicitor and Notary Public from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He is a member of the Council of State in the Republic of Ireland.Moloney is a senior partner in the Belfast law firm of Donnelly & Wall specialising in Criminal Law...
- Daráine MulvihillDaráine MulvihillDaráine Mulvihill was voted Irish Person of the Year in 2001. A survivor of Meningitis, she lost both her legs due to the illness and has been an advocate for immunization. Daráine was appointed to the Irish Council of State by Mary McAleese for her second term as President of Ireland, starting in...
Awards and honorary doctorates
McAleese has received awards and honorary doctorates throughout her career. On 3 May 2007, she was awarded the The American Ireland FundThe American Ireland Fund
The American Ireland Fund is an organization that raises funds for the support of peace and reconciliation, community development, education, arts and culture in Ireland. Since its founding it has raised more than US $250 million...
Humanitarian Award. On 31 October 2007, she was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws from the University of Otago
University of Otago
The University of Otago in Dunedin is New Zealand's oldest university with over 22,000 students enrolled during 2010.The university has New Zealand's highest average research quality and in New Zealand is second only to the University of Auckland in the number of A rated academic researchers it...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. On 19 May 2009, she became the third living person to be awarded the freedom of Kilkenny
Kilkenny
Kilkenny is a city and is the county town of the eponymous County Kilkenny in Ireland. It is situated on both banks of the River Nore in the province of Leinster, in the south-east of Ireland...
, succeeding Brian Cody
Brian Cody
Brian Cody is an Irish hurling manager and former player, currently managing the Kilkenny senior inter-county team, where he has been in charge since 1998...
and Séamus Pattison
Séamus Pattison
Séamus Pattison is a former Irish Labour Party politician. He was a Teachta Dála for the Carlow–Kilkenny constituency from 1961–2007 and was Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann from 1997–2002....
. The ceremony, at which she was presented with two hurley
Hurley (stick)
A hurley is a wooden stick used to hit a sliotar in the Irish sport of hurling. It measures between 70 and 100 cm long with a flattened, curved end which provides the striking surface...
s, took place at Kilkenny Castle
Kilkenny Castle
Kilkenny Castle is a castle in Kilkenny, Ireland built in 1195 by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke to control a fording-point of the River Nore and the junction of several routeways...
. On 24 May 2009, she was awarded an honorary doctorate of law from Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters colleges, and served as a model for some of the others...
in South Hadley, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. On 22 May 2010, she was awarded an honorary doctorate of law from Fordham University
Fordham University
Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...
, in the Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
, New York, where she delivered the commencement speech to the class of 2010.
Further reading
- Mary McAleese-The Outsider: An Unauthorised Biography, Justine McCarthy, Dublin, Blackwater Press, 1999
- Máire Mhic Ghiolla Íosa: Beathaisnéis, Ray Mac Mánais. Irish Language Biography. Later translated as The Road From Ardoyne: The Making Of A President, Ray Mac Mánais, Dingle, Brandon, 2004
- First citizen: Mary McAleese and the Irish Presidency, Patsy McGarry, Dublin, O'Brien Press, 2008
External links
- Rome Reports TV interview
- Official biography
- BBC Extended interview with Mary McAleese (audio) (interview of 2/3/2003)
- AIF Humanitarian Award speech
- 2009 Commencement speech - Mount Holyoke CollegeMount Holyoke CollegeMount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters colleges, and served as a model for some of the others...