Mary Lou McDonald

She is the first woman to occupy that position and the first to come from a party other than Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael since the Labour Party's Thomas Johnson in 1927.

Born into a middle-class family in south Dublin to builder and surveyor Patrick McDonald and housewife Joan, her parents separated when she was nine years old and she stayed with her mother in Rathgar.

She has three siblings, one older and two younger.

Mary Louise McDonald (born 1 May 1969) is an Irish politician who has served as Leader of the Opposition in Ireland since June 2020 and president of Sinn Féin since February 2018.

She later studied industrial relations at Dublin City University, and also received a Master of Arts degree in European Integration Studies from the University of Limerick in 1995.

She worked as a researcher for the Institute of European Affairs, a consultant for the Irish Productivity Centre (a human resources consultancy that was jointly operated by Ibec and ICTU) and a trainer in the Partnership Unit of the Educational and Training Services Trust.

McDonald started her political career by first joining Fianna Fáil in 1998, but she left the party after a year due to core policy differences, particularly in relation to Northern Ireland and social justice.

Her sister Joanne was involved with the socialist republican party Éirígí in the late 2000s and is a teacher.

McDonald's great-uncle, James O'Connor, was a member of the Anti-Treaty IRA who was executed at the Curragh Camp during the Irish Civil War.

He was charged with illegally possessing firearms, which carried the death penalty at the time.

O'Connor was 24 years old at the time.

In January 2023, McDonald said that one of her siblings had transitioned from male to female in 2021, and that she was on a "learning curve" about transgender issues.

McDonald was educated at the Catholic all-girls, Notre Dame Des Missions in Churchtown, South Dublin, where she was involved in debating.

After school, McDonald attended Trinity College Dublin, from which she received a bachelor's degree in English Literature.

McDonald became involved with the Irish National Congress, a cross-party republican organisation, and became chairperson in 2000, leading a protest in Dublin against the involvement of the city's Lord Mayor in the unveiling of a plaque at the location where the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland held its first meeting in 1798.

McDonald has been a member of the Sinn Féin party leadership since 2001.

She 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 September 2003, McDonald attracted criticism when she spoke at a rally in Dublin to commemorate Seán Russell, an IRA leader with links to Nazi Germany.

In 2004, McDonald became Sinn Féin's first MEP in Ireland, when she was elected at the 2004 European Parliament election for the Dublin constituency, receiving over 60,000 first preference votes.

She served as one of two Sinn Féin MEPs, the other being Bairbre de Brún who was representing Northern Ireland.

In 2007, she was shortlisted for the 'MEP of the Year' award by the European Parliament magazine for "making the most valuable contribution in the field of employment policy".

McDonald sat as a member of the European Parliament's Employment and Social Affairs Committee, and as a substitute of the Civil Liberties Committee.

She was an unsuccessful candidate in the Dublin Central constituency at the 2007 general election.

She previously served as vice president of Sinn Féin from 2009 to 2018 and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Dublin constituency from 2004 to 2009.

In 2009 she became the vice president of Sinn Féin.

For the 2009 European Parliament election, the number of seats for Dublin in the European Parliament was reduced from four to three.

McDonald was in a tight race for the last seat against Fianna Fáil's Eoin Ryan and the Socialist Party leader Joe Higgins.

McDonald lost her seat to Higgins, being eliminated at the fifth count.

Her first preference vote had declined to nearly 48,000.

In June 2009, McDonald faced criticism after it emerged her campaign office was selling IRA souvenirs and memorabilia.

McDonald has voiced her opposition to the Treaty of Lisbon and has said that the "EU/IMF deal must be turned down".

She has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Central constituency since 2011.

McDonald contested the Dublin Central constituency again at the 2011 general election, this time picking up 13.1% of first preference votes; she was successful in taking the last seat in the constituency.

In 2012, McDonald was awarded 'Opposition Politician of the Year' by TV3's Tonight with Vincent Browne political talk show.

Asked in 2014 about her participation in Fianna Fáil, McDonald stated she had been "in the wrong party" and quickly realised that Sinn Féin was a more appropriate party for her Republican views after meeting Sinn Féin members through the Irish National Congress.

Following the election she became Sinn Féin's Spokesperson for Public Expenditure and Reform and was a member of the Public Accounts Committee from then until 2017.

On 10 February 2018, McDonald succeeded longtime party leader Gerry Adams as president of Sinn Féin, following a special ardfheis (party conference) in Dublin.

In the 2020 general election, Sinn Féin's performance improved significantly and it was the first time in almost a century that neither Fianna Fáil nor Fine Gael won the most votes.

Sinn Féin achieved the second-highest number of seats at 37, one behind Fianna Fáil's 38 seats.

Following Micheál Martin's appointment as Taoiseach in June 2020, after the formation of a Fianna Fáil, Green Party and Fine Gael coalition, McDonald became Leader of the Opposition.