Talk:Mary McAleese

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It has a picture, infobox, and many links. However, the article can be expanded and the info should be better organized with more subheaders. Green caterpillar 00:58, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

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[edit] Is there a better picture of Mrs. McAleese?

I'm not liking the brown clothes she has on. I'm sure there is a better picture of her somewhere. - Stancel

That is her official presidential photograph, and she was inaugurated (in 1997) believe it or not, in that hideous outfit. But then Mary is not exactly good at choosing clothes. FearÉIREANN 22:47, 28 Apr 2005 (UTC)





" President of The Repulic Of Canada."Erm, President of Canada? HUH? Erm, educated at Hogwarts? HUH? Erm, Moon Colony #5? HUH? Erm, "She was first elected president in 1897"? HUH? Erm, "McAleese was born Mary Patricia Leneghan on 27th June, 1851 in Belfast where she grew up during the Troubles." ? 1851? HUH? Erm: "Term of Office: 11th November, 1823 - present Number of Terms: 71" ? HUH?

Is there some sort of vandalism going on here?

--Buzzie 18:50, Jan 10, 2005 (UTC)

Do we have permission to use this image? The description gives no indication whether

  • this image is copyright
  • where it came from

This is the official portrait which appears on the President of Ireland's website. [1] I spoke to the President of Ireland's office about two months ago to get permission to use images of the various presidents of Ireland for our Irish presidential pages. They explicitly refused permission for use to use their copyright images, on the basis that because anyone could change the article on the President, anything could be written there. Supplying official portraits could be seen (in their eyes, according to them) as "endorsing" the site, but because they could not stand over its potential contents with reference to the presidents the "could not possibly" supply official pictures.

Much as though I like using images (and I am all in favour of it) using an image from a source that explicitly refused us the image, could get wikipedia into serious copyright trouble. So we need to know:

  1. Where did this image come from?
  1. If it came from the President of Ireland's website, did they give wikipedia permission subsequently to use it?
  1. If it came from another source, do they have the right to allow it be used by a third-party?

I love this image on the page and hope it is OK but if we don't have permission and it is taken from a source that had already explicitly denied us permission to use it, it is have to be deleted. STÓD/ÉÍRE 03:19 Apr 14, 2003 (UTC)

Does anyone know what NI party Pres. McAleese associated with in NI or has she always been an FF member?

hoshie

I am a bit confused, about Mary McAleese's name. In the Irish wikipedia she is mentioned as "Máire Mhic Ghiolla Íosa". Does she have two names - an English and an Irish one? Can somebody tell more about Irish naming conventions - especially about Irish/English name relations?

Many Irish people, particularly those in public life, will have both an English name and the Irish equivalent (or vice versa, whichever way you look at it). Mary and Máire are cognates, McAleese would be the English approximate pronunciation of Mhic Ghiolla Íosa (the Irish language is full of silent or elided letters to people who aren't used to it - Eamon de Valera gaelicises to Éamonn de Bhailéara for instance, but is pronounced the same). I presume Mrs McAleese isn't particularly bothered about having her name match her gender, otherwise she'd be Ni rather than Mhic... -- Arwel 12:35, 4 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Thanks very much for this explanation. Is one of the two names more "official". I know that in Ireland generally the Irish version of things is preferred, e. g. the Irish version of the constitution is in case of doubt higher-ranking than the English. At least theoretically. And s it possible for Irish people to make a determination between female an male gender analogue to the Irish "Ni" vs. "Mhic" in their English name?


Very good questions, and very well put. For an overview, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surnames under the Ireland section, much of which I substancially rewrote myself.

Now, to your immediate questions:

1 - Are one of the two forms, Irish or English, more "official"? The short answer is no. It is usually just a form of personal preference. Having said that, I think there are some legal issues if you switch from being John Smith to Sean MacGowan, Ferdy McLoughlin to Fergananim Ua Mael Sechlainn, Eve Connors to Aoife Bean O'Conchobair - or indeed visa versa!

The fact of the matter is that the vast majority of people in Ireland simply use the names they were given in childhood. And most of those names are English versions of Irish names.

My understanding, which may be wrong, is that you can have only one such name on your passport, Irish or English, but not both. And a great many people dislike doing so because it makes them look like Sinn Feiners, who have succeded to a degree in being more Irish than the Irish.

2 - Please phrase this a little better as I cannot answer it well as it stands.

Hope all this helps, if only a little. Fergananim

[edit] "Ulster Protestants, Ireland's largest minority"?

I don't want to correct this personal until I get clarification from the author.

Ulster Protestants are the largest "ethnic" group in the North and possibly in the historic area of Ulster, so shouldn't be regarded as a minority. Does the author mean the whole island of Ireland or the significant Protestant population in Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan (the 3 counties of Ulster in the Rep. of Irl.). I doubt in the Republic that the Ulster (or Unionist) Protestants would be the largest minority.

Broadly agree. Using terminology like "minority" and "ethnic" (or "community") togetheir is always a self defeating exercise as society defines itself in many ways - especially in an increasingly complex world. Society is complex, indiviuals unique, and theirfore we should avoid using simple terms but rather be specific - viz, "X%...". Djegan 18:12, 22 August 2005 (UTC)

I'm sure by "Ireland" in this case the island is meant. mango2005

[edit] Fianna Fail?

She was elected on an FF ticket in 1997, but did not align herself to any party or take a party nomination in 2004, instead ran as an independent under her own nomination. So she's not current an FF president. --Kiand 23:59, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Huh?

"Since November 19, 2005 she is the longest-serving current woman Head of State following the retirement of Chandrika Kumaratunga of Sri Lanka." I'm pretty sure Queen Elizabeth has been Queen since the 50s, and she's the Head of State of about a bazillion countries. —  MusicMaker 22:54, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Agree, she might be the longest-serving elected head of state that has been a woman, but not the longest overall. --Boothy443 | trácht ar 05:48, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Agree, Also I was not aware that one could be 'elected' when you are the only person running.

[edit] Adding Expected Step-Down Date in Article

While I understand prediction of future events are very unreliable, I believe we should include the expected date of McAleese's stepping down in the infobox, with adequate warnings given to viewers.

Here's what I propose for the warning:

(Barring any unexpected deaths and/or changes to the constitution, McAleese will step down by that date)

Any suggestions? Arbiteroftruth 01:40, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

I think anything more than one word is excessive as it is just crystal balling and over complicating the issue; their is simply too many issues that could happen (abeit unlikely) and by inclusion of one we should include all possibilities by default e.g. constitutional/resignation/dealth/impeachment/incapacity/etc. The best option is "present" or "incumbent" as they balance the reality that anything could happen without overcomplicating the issue and implying that the countries political system is unstable or prone to change.
Take for example (some office holders) Romano Prodi, Dominique de Villepin, Horst Köhler, John Howard; they use "incumbent". And indeed they use a different template, perhaps that is the way forward as well. Djegan 10:55, 5 December 2006 (UTC)
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