Mary Lou McDonald M.E.P.
Mary Lou McDonald
Mary Lou McDonald is the National Chairperson of Sinn Féin, an MEP for
Dublin and a member of the party's Ard Chomhairle. She is also a Sinn Féin
negotiator and a member of the party's talk's team.
She was elected to the European Parliament to represent Dublin in 2004 and
received a total of 60,895 votes.
She is married to Martin Lanigan and they have a baby daughter. Mary Lou
is presently on maternity leave with her second child.
Mary Lou studied at Trinity College, Dublin, the University of Limerick
and Dublin City University and she specialized in English Literature,
European Integration Studies and Human Resource Management.
Before joining Sinn Féin she was active in the trade union movement and
has previously worked for the Irish Productivity Centre and the Institute
of European Affairs. She previously worked for the party in co-ordinating
the work of Sinn Féin elected representatives across Ireland.
Since election to Europe, Mary Lou has worked tirelessly to represent the
people of Dublin. One of her main aims has been to open up the European
Parliament to her constituents so that they can access information,
challenge decisions and lobby support for their cause.
To this end Mary Lou invited a number of delegations to travel to Brussels
and make their voices heard.
Representatives from Travellers Action, Centre for Care of Survivors of
Torture, Association of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Ireland, African
Women's Group AKidWa, African Cultural Centre, Residents against Racism,
Black Youth Network (Belfast) travelled to the European Parliament in
March at the invitation of Mary Lou. They discussed a wide range of issues
which affect ethnic minority communities in modern Ireland.
In May 2005, she was involved in the organization of a major conference on
homelessness in Brussels and in June she invited a delegation of autism
campaigners from across Ireland to address MEPs on the issue. In November
she hosted a delegation of over 20 women from the north side of Dublin at
the European Parliament. The women, representing various community
projects met with representatives from the European Commission and various
NGO organisations including EUROCHILD and the European Citizen Action
Centre on issues including funding opportunities, lobbying skills,
childcare, education and employment issues. Speaking after the visit Mary
Lou said that the 'Given that the European institutions are a huge
bureaucracy I was pleased that the meetings helped assist community
organisations in continuing to deliver quality services at a local level."
She has also been active in using the European Parliament to highlight the
exploitation of workers across Ireland and has met with the European
Commissioner for Transport in a bid to find a breakthrough to the Irish
Ferries dispute.
In April, she hosted a conference in Dublin on Childcare in Europe.
Addressing the conference she said: 'The Lack of adequate childcare,
including pre-school, after-school and out-of-school childcare, continues
to restrict the participation of parents of young children, particularly
women, in the workforce, education and training.
Her work in the Employment and Social Affairs Committee includes
employment policy, working conditions, social security and social
protection, health and safety measures in the workplace, the European
Social Fund, widening access and breaking down barriers to employment and
combating discrimination.
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