A Political and Economic Dictionary of Western Europe, First Edition
Mary McAleese has been President of Ireland since 1997. A presidential candidate of the Fianna Fáil party, she was inaugurated for a seven-year term of office on 11 November 1997 and reappointed in November 2004. She was elected for her first term with a majority of 58.67% under the single transferable vote system after second preference votes had been transferred from eliminated candidates. Her share of first preference votes was 45.24%. She was inaugurated for a second term in November 2004, without an election as no other candidates were nominated. McAleese’s main campaigning issues include justice, equality, social inclusion, rights for the disabled (she is fluent in sign language), anti-sectarianism and reconciliation. The theme of her presidency is ‘Building Bridges’; she issued an official invitation in September 2003 for the British Queen to visit the Republic of Ireland.
Born Mary Leneghan on 27 June 1951 in Belfast, United Kingdom, McAleese is the first Irish President to come from Northern Ireland. She graduated in law from Queen’s University, Belfast, in 1973 and was called to the Northern Ireland Bar in 1974. In 1975 she was appointed Reid Professor of Criminal Law, Criminology and Penology at Trinity College Dublin, where she concentrated on the Irish Constitution, prisons, and attitudes to crime. She became director of the Institute of Professional Legal Studies at Queen’s University in 1987 and the first pro-vice chancellor of Queen’s University in 1994. McAleese has also worked in radio and television broadcasting as a current affairs journalist with the Irish Radio Telefís Éireann. Mary McAleese is married to Martin McAleese and has three children.
Address: Áras an Uachtaráin, Phoenix Park, Dublin 8, Ireland
Tel: (0)1 6171000
Fax: (0)1 6171001
E-mail: webmaster@aras.irlgov.ie
Internet: www.irlgov.ie/aras
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