Mary Hanafin
| Mary Hanafin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Deputy Leader of Fianna Fáil | |
| In office 20 January 2011 – 9 March 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Mary Coughlan |
| Succeeded by | Brian Lenihan |
| Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport | |
| In office 23 March 2010 – 9 March 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Martin Cullen (Arts, Sport and Tourism) |
| Succeeded by | Leo Varadkar (Transport, Tourism and Sport) Jimmy Deenihan |
| Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation | |
| In office 20 January 2011 – 9 March 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Batt O'Keeffe |
| Succeeded by | Richard Bruton (Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation) |
| Minister for Social and Family Affairs | |
| In office 7 May 2008 – 23 March 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Martin Cullen |
| Succeeded by | Éamon Ó Cuív (Social Protection) |
| Minister for Education and Science | |
| In office 29 September 2004 – 7 May 2008 | |
| Preceded by | Noel Dempsey |
| Succeeded by | Batt O'Keeffe |
| Government Chief Whip | |
| In office 6 June 2002 – 29 September 2004 | |
| Preceded by | Séamus Brennan |
| Succeeded by | Tom Kitt |
| Minister of State for Children | |
| In office 1 February 2000 – 6 June 2002 | |
| Preceded by | Frank Fahey |
| Succeeded by | Brian Lenihan |
| Teachta Dála | |
| In office June 1997 – February 2011 | |
| Constituency | Dún Laoghaire |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 June 1959 Thurles, Ireland |
| Political party | Fianna Fáil |
| Spouse(s) | Eamon Leahy (Deceased) |
| Alma mater | St Patrick's College, Maynooth Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) |
| Profession | Teacher |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Mary Hanafin (born 1 June 1959) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who was a Teachta Dála (TD) for Dún Laoghaire from 1997 to 2011.[1] She served as Government Chief Whip (2002–04), Minister for Education and Science (2004–08), Minister for Social and Family Affairs (2008–10), Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport (2010–11) and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation (2011). She was briefly Deputy Leader of Fianna Fáil in 2011.
Early and personal life
Born in Thurles, County Tipperary, Hanafin is the daughter of Des and Mona Hanafin. Her father was a businessman and Fianna Fáil councillor who later served as a Senator at various times for over twenty-five years between 1969 and 2002. Her brother John Hanafin was a member of Seanad Éireann from 2002 to 2011.
Hanafin was educated at the Presentation Convent in Thurles and St. Patrick's College in Maynooth receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree. She subsequently worked as a secondary school teacher of Irish and History in the Dominican College Sion Hill in Blackrock, Dublin. Hanafin also obtained a diploma in legal studies at the Dublin Institute of Technology.
Hanafin married Eamon Leahy, a Senior Counsel, in 1985. He died suddenly on 17 July 2003, aged 46. The couple had no children.
Early political career
Hanafin was involved in politics from age 15. Her father Des Hanafin, as well as being a Senator for Fianna Fáil, was a founding member of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) and a staunch opponent of contraception, abortion and divorce. She joined Ógra Fianna Fáil aged fifteen and spoke at her first Ard Fheis two years later. Hanafin first became involved in national politics in 1980 when, at the age of twenty-one, she was elected to the Fianna Fáil national executive, the party's ruling body.
She was elected to Dublin City Council at the 1985 local elections for the Rathmines local electoral area and unsuccessfully contested a Dáil Éireann seat at the 1989 general election for the Dublin South–East constituency. She lost her seat on Dublin City Council in 1991 and became involved in the running of the Fianna Fáil party. She was elected as national treasurer in 1993. Hanafin is also a former president of the National Youth Council of Ireland.
Dáil career
Hanafin was elected to the Dáil on her second attempt at the 1997 general election for the Dún Laoghaire constituency.[2] In her first few years as a TD, she served on a number of Oireachtas committees, including Education and Science, Heritage and the Irish language and Justice, Equality and Women's Affairs. In 2000 Hanafin was appointed Minister of State for Children, one of a number of new junior ministry positions created by the Government in 1997. She topped the poll in her constituency at the 2002 general election and was appointed to the position of Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach; also a junior (non-cabinet) ministry, but with special responsibility as Government Chief Whip.
Minister for Education and Science
Following a cabinet reshuffle in September 2004 Hanafin became Minister for Education and Science. Among her activities in that post, she abandoned the compilation of school league tables begun by her predecessor Noel Dempsey. She prioritised school bus safety following the death of five schoolgirls near Navan, County Meath in 2005. This has mandated the provision of one seat per child and of the mandatory usage of seatbelts in school buses. She announced plans for a possible change of entry requirements to third level medical education.[3]
Hanafin was accused of bias towards private fee-paying schools in her constituency when awarding building grants to them in 2005. Christian Brothers College, Monkstown Park and St. Andrew's College (Ireland) both received building grants for extensions and works on their buildings. Only Belvedere College, Kilkenny College and Loreto Beaufort, Rathfarnham had previously received money since 1995.[4][5]
Hanafin was accused in February 2008 of being oblivious to the plight of parents of children with autism, and of taking an imperious view of their parents' situation, when she decided to engage in a 68-day court battle with two parents who were attempting to obtain appropriate education for their children through the Applied behavior analysis (ABA) method. She and her Department were accused of ignoring reality of autism education requirements. The mother, Yvonne Ui Cuanachain, said: "Well I would reject the Minister's position quite completely and I feel it's actually quite cynically misrepresentative of the situation on the ground. The Department of Education does not support ABA, it does not support ABA within the ABA schools and neither does it support ABA within the eclectic classes."[6]
Minister for Social and Family Affairs
On 7 May 2008 Hanafin was appointed as Minister for Social and Family Affairs.
During the course of the 2009 local elections, Hanafin became embroiled in a number of controversies. In late April the Mail on Sunday ran a story claiming her office had improperly used Oireachtas envelopes, which are provided at taxpayers' expense, to promote a campaign launch for her personal assistant Peter O'Brien who was a candidate in the Dún Laoghaire electoral area. In late May Hanafin became embroiled in further controversy, when a national newspaper ran a story claiming her office had again used taxpayer-funded resources to promote O'Brien in correspondence to voters in the Dún Laoghaire constituency.[7] O'Brien was not elected at those local elections.
Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport
On 23 March 2010 Hanafin was moved from Social and Family Affairs to the Tourism, Culture and Sport portfolio. She appointed a Fianna Fáil councillor and friend of Brian Cowen to the board of the Irish Sports Council on her last full day as Tourism, Culture and Sport Minister.[8]
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation
Following the resignation of Batt O'Keeffe in January 2011, Hanafin was also appointed as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation.[9]
2011 general election
On 22 January 2011, after the resignation of Brian Cowen, Hanafin put her name forward as a candidate for leader of Fianna Fáil. At the 2011 general election Hanafin lost her Dáil seat to Richard Boyd Barrett of the United Left Alliance.[10] She briefly withdrew from public life, but in April 2011 the Fianna Fáil National Executive appointed Hanafin as Vice-President of the party.[11]
After national politics
In January 2012 she appeared as a judge on the TG4 television show, An G-Team.[12] From September 2013 Hanafin has been undertaking a Master's Degree in American Studies at the Clinton Institute in University College Dublin.
Return to politics
She was elected to Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council for the Blackrock area at the 2014 local elections.
References
- ↑ "Ms. Mary Hanafin". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 18 September 2009.
- ↑ "Mary Hanafin". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 18 September 2009.
- ↑ McDonagh, Patricia (17 December 2007). "New system widens net for potential medical students". Irish Independent.
- ↑ "Minister Considers 3 million euro grant to top fees school". Irish Independent. 19 April 2005. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
- ↑ "Hanafin attacked as fee-paying school gets €3m". Irish Independent. 21 April 2005. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
- ↑ Sheahan, Fionnan (18 February 2008). "Autistic boy's mother in persecution claim". Irish Independent.
- ↑ "Hanafin backs her man - but ditches Devlin on party ticket". Evening Herald. 26 May 2009.
- ↑ "Hanafin named FF man to board on last day". Irish Examiner. 18 March 2011.
- ↑ "Election date set for 11 March". RTÉ News. 20 January 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2011.
- ↑ "Dun Laoghaire: Hanafin loses out to Boyd Barrett". Irish Independent. 28 February 2011.
- ↑ "Hanafin appointed as new FF vice-president". RTÉ News. 14 April 2011.
- ↑ "Mary Hanafin’s return to public life… on reality show ‘G-Team’". TheJournal.ie. 12 January 2012.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mary Hanafin. |
| Oireachtas | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Niamh Bhreathnach (Labour Party) |
Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála for Dún Laoghaire 1997–2011 |
Succeeded by Richard Boyd Barrett (People Before Profit Alliance) |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Frank Fahey |
Minister of State for Children 2000–2002 |
Succeeded by Brian Lenihan |
| Preceded by Séamus Brennan |
Government Chief Whip 2002–2004 |
Succeeded by Tom Kitt |
| Minister of State at the Department of Defence 2002–2004 | ||
| Preceded by Noel Dempsey |
Minister for Education and Science 2004–2008 |
Succeeded by Batt O'Keeffe |
| Preceded by Martin Cullen |
Minister for Social and Family Affairs 2008–2010 |
Succeeded by Éamon Ó Cuív as Minister for Social Protection |
| Preceded by Martin Cullen as Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism |
Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport 2010–2011 |
Succeeded by Jimmy Deenihan as Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht |
| Succeeded by Leo Varadkar as Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport | ||
| Preceded by Batt O'Keeffe |
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation 2011–2011 |
Succeeded by Richard Bruton as Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Mary Coughlan |
Deputy Leader of Fianna Fáil 2011 |
Succeeded by Brian Lenihan, Jnr |
| Preceded by ? |
Vice President of Fianna Fáil 2011–present |
Incumbent |
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