Mary Lou McDonald

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Mary Lou McDonald (born May 1, 1969 in Dublin), is an Irish politician. She is a Member of the European Parliament representing the Sinn Féin party.

Mary Lou McDonald was educated in Trinity College, Dublin, the University of Limerick and Dublin City University studying English Literature, European Integration Studies and Human Resource Management. She worked as a consultant for the Irish Productivity Centre, a researcher for the Institute of European Affairs and a trainer in the trade union sponsored Partnership Unit of the Educational and Training Services Trust.

Originally a member of Fianna Fáil, McDonald first ran for office when she unsuccessfully contested the Dublin West constituency for Sinn Féin at the 2002 general election polling 8.02% of first preference votes. In 2004 McDonald became Sinn Féin's first Member of the European Parliament in the Republic of Ireland when she was elected in the 2004 European elections for the constituency of Dublin. She is a member of the Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle (party leadership) (as of 2005) and is the party's national Chairperson, replacing Mitchel McLaughlin.

In December 2005 she was selected as the Sinn Féin general election candidate in the constituency of Dublin Central.