TAOISEACH ENDA Kenny’s 11 Seanad nominees come from a wide cross-section of society.
Dr Martin McAleese is married to President Mary McAleese. Originally an accountant, he retrained as a dental surgeon. From east Belfast, Dr McAleese has operated behind the scenes on sensitive reconciliation work with members of the loyalist community.
Fiach MacConghail is director of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. He is also chairman of We The Citizens, an initiative aimed at encouraging people to engage with the political system. He also was special adviser to Fianna Fáil minister for arts John O’Donoghue in the 2002-2007 government.
Eamon Coghlan is one of Ireland’s most renowned Olympic athletes and is director of the Crumlin Children’s Medical and Research Foundation. A three-time Irish Olympian, he grew up in Drimnagh.
Dr Katherine Zappone is a member of the Irish Human Rights Commission. She is a lecturer in ethics at TCD. A Canadian, she is a prominent equal rights campaigner and lives in Dublin with her partner, Dr Ann Louise Gilligan. The couple mounted a high-profile legal challenge to compel the State to recognised their Canadian marriage.
Jim Darcy, who describes himself as “a life-long member of Fine Gael” is a party councillor on Louth County Council and a teacher. Based in Blackrock, in Co Louth, he was first elected to Louth County Council in 1999 and Dundalk Town Council in 2004.
Aideen Hayden has been the chairwoman of the national housing charity Threshold since 1998. A solicitor, she was a Labour party candidate on the Industrial and Commercial panel in the 2011 Seanad elections. From Carlow, she now lives in Dublin.
Lorraine Higgins is a barrister practising on the western circuit. She received over 3,500 first-preference votes as a Labour candidate in the constituency of Galway East in the general election.
Mary Ann O’Brien is a well-known businesswoman and charity head. She founded Lily O’Brien’s chocolates in 1992, and the Jack and Jill foundation with husband Jonathan Irwin, formerly of Goffs, after their baby Jack died.
Marie Louise O’Donnell is a communications lecturer in DCU. Since the late 1980s, she has been a contributor to radio and television. A former actor and theatre administrator, she was involved in setting up the Helix Theatre. She is a supporter of Fine Gael.
Jillian Van Turnhout has been chief executive of the Children’s Rights Alliance for the past six years. She is a prominent member of the European Movement and a former commissioner of the Irish Girl Guides. She was a member of Fine Gael but said last night she had been nominated by Mr Kenny in an independent capacity.
Mary Moran is a teacher based in Dundalk, Co Louth. She was an unsuccessful candidate for Labour in the general election and in the Seanad elections. She is married and has five teenage children and will take the Labour whip in the Upper House.