Mary Hanafin

Name	Mary Hanafin
Honorific-suffix	TD
Nationality	Irish
Width	170px
Office	Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport
Predecessor	Martin Cullen
Term start	23 March 2010
Office2	Minister for Social and Family Affairs
Predecessor2	Martin Cullen
Successor2	Éamon Ó Cuív
Term start2	7 May 2008
Term end2	23 March 2010
Office3	Minister for Education and Science
Predecessor3	Noel Dempsey
Successor3	Batt O'Keeffe
Term start3	29 September 2004
Term end3	7 May 2008
Office4	Government Chief Whip
Predecessor4	Séamus Brennan
Successor4	Tom Kitt
Term start4	6 June 2002
Term end4	29 September 2004
Office5	Minister of State (with special responsibility for Children)
Predecessor5	Frank Fahey
Successor5	Brian Lenihan
Term start5	1 February 2000
Term end5	6 June 2002
Office6	Teachta Dála
Term start6	6 June 1997
Constituency6	Dún Laoghaire
Birth date	June 01, 1959
Birth place	Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland
Party	Fianna Fáil
Spouse	Eamon Leahy (deceased)
Occupation	Secondary school teacher
Religion	Roman Catholic
Website	Official website
Alma mater	St Patrick's College, Maynooth, Dublin Institute of Technology

Mary Hanafin (born 1 June 1959) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician, currently the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport and a Teachta Dála (TD) for Dún Laoghaire.

Early life

Born in Thurles, County Tipperary, Hanafin is the daughter of Des and Mona Hanafin. Her father was a well-known businessman and Fianna Fáil councillor who later served as a Senator at various times for over twenty-five years from 1969 until 2002. Hanafin's brother, John Hanafin, is also involved in national politics and, like his father before him, has been a member of Seanad Éireann since 2002.

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.

Early political career

Hanafin was involved in politics from an early age. 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.

Hanafin unsuccessfully contested a Dáil 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 Éireann on her second attempt at the 1997 general election for the Dún Laoghaire constituency. 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 (with special responsibility 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.

Minster for Education and Science

Following a cabinet reshuffle in September 2004, Hanafin became Minster for Education and Science. Among her activities in that post: She abandoned the compilation of school league tables initiated during the incumbency of her predecessor, Noel Dempsey. School bus safety was prioritised for Hanafin 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.

Hanafin was accused in February 2008, of being oblivious to the plight of parents of children with autism, and of taking an imperious view, consistent with her decision to engage in a 68 day court battle with the 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."

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 taxpayer 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 2009, Hanafin became embroiled in further controversy when a national newspaper ran a story claiming her office had again used tax payer funded resources to promote O'Brien in correspondence to voters in the Dún Laoghaire constituency. O'Brien was not elected at the Local elections.

Minister forTourism, Culture and Sport

On 23 March 2010, Hanafin was moved from Social and Family Affairs to the Tourism, Culture and Sport portfolio.

Personal life

Hanafin married Eamon Leahy, a senior counsel, in 1985. He died suddenly on 17 July 2003, aged 46. The couple had no children.

References

External links

Mary Hanafin's official website

Mary Hanafin's page on the Fianna Fáil website

Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:Fianna Fáil politicians Category:Teachtaí Dála Category:Female Teachtaí Dála Category:Members of the 28th Dáil Category:Members of the 29th Dáil Category:Members of the 30th Dáil Category:Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Category:Irish schoolteachers Category:People from Dún Laoghaire Category:People from Thurles Category:Alumni of Dublin Institute of Technology