Dáil Éireann (/dɔɪl ˈɛərɒn/; Irish: [d̪ˠaːlʲ ˈeːrʲən̪ˠ]) is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house). It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (STV). Its powers are similar to those of lower houses under many other bicameral parliamentary systems and it is by far the dominant branch of the Oireachtas. Subject to the limits imposed by the Constitution of Ireland, it has power to pass any law it wishes, and to nominate and remove the Taoiseach (head of government). Since 1922, it has met in Leinster House in Dublin.

The name Dáil Éireann is taken from the Irish language but is the official title of the body in both English and Irish, including both language versions of the Irish constitution. Since the Dáil was first established in 1919 it has also been described variously as a "National Assembly", a "Chamber of Deputies" and a "House of Representatives".

Gerry Adams (Irish: Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh; born 6 October 1948 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is an Irish republican politician and Teachta Dála (TD) for the constituency of Louth. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he was an abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West. He is the president of Sinn Féin, the second largest political party in Northern Ireland and the largest nationalist party. From the late 1980s onwards, Adams was an important figure in the Northern Ireland peace process, initially following contact by the then Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) leader John Hume and subsequently with the Irish and British governments and then other parties. In 2005, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) indicated that its armed campaign was over and that it is now exclusively committed to democratic politics. Under Adams, Sinn Féin changed its traditional policy of abstentionism towards Oireachtas Éireann, the parliament of the Republic of Ireland, in 1986 and later took seats in the power-sharing Northern Ireland Assembly. However, Sinn Féin retains a policy of abstentionism towards the Westminster Parliament, but since 2002, receives allowances for staff and takes up offices in the House of Commons.

The Second Dáil was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 16 August 1921 until 8 June 1922. From 1919–1922 Dáil Éireann was the revolutionary parliament of the self-proclaimed Irish Republic. The Second Dáil consisted of members elected in 1921. One of its most important acts was to bring an end to the War of Independence by ratifying the controversial Anglo-Irish Treaty.

In December 1920, in the middle of the Irish War of Independence, the British Government passed the Government of Ireland Act. This was intended to find a solution to the "Irish problem" by partitioning Ireland into two parts, each of which would have a separate home rule parliament. In 1921 the first elections were held to these new bodies. The general election created the House of Commons of Northern Ireland, and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland. In both jurisdictions the electoral system used was the Single transferable vote.

Sinn Féin nationalists participated in these elections but refused to recognise the new home rule parliaments. Instead the party treated the elections in both parts of Ireland as elections to the Second Dáil of one country. Thus the Second Dáil theoretically consisted of members elected in both parts of Ireland.

Mary Lou McDonald (born 1 May 1969 in Dublin) is an Irish politician, the current Vice President of Sinn Féin and a Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin Central. McDonald was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP), from 2004–2009 representing the Dublin constituency.

Mary Lou McDonald was educated in Trinity College, Dublin, the University of Limerick and Dublin City University studying English Literature, European Integration Studies and Human Resource Management. Her career to date has her involved in diverse roles, including consultant for the Irish Productivity Centre, Institute of European Affairs researcher and trainer in the Partnership Unit of the Educational and Training Services Trust.

Originally a member of Fianna Fáil, she left the party in 1998 in opposition to its economic and social policies. Her sister, Joanne, is a member of the republican group éirígí.

McDonald 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. She was an unsuccessful candidate in the Dublin Central constituency at the 2007 general election. She contested the Dublin Central again in the 2011 general election this time picking up 13.1% of first preference; she was successful in picking up the last seat in the constituency ahead of the Fianna Fáil candidate Mary Fitzpatrick.

Mary Lou (born March 15, 1992) is an American actress. She is known for playing Mary Ferry on the Nickelodeon television series Unfabulous.

At age 8, she chose to pursue a career in television and film.

Mary Lou’s show business career started at age six when she entertained as a member of Singing Solo (a children's singing group located in La Mesa, CA) at a local street fair with a rendition of The Good Ship Lollipop. After this performance, she chose acting as her career. Over the next few years, Lou went on to sing at over two dozen venues throughout Southern California, Texas and Tennessee, winning multiple local, state, regional, national and world championship titles.

Mary Lou also filmed a guest-starring role on Phil of the Future, as a math-nerd named Alex, in Good Phil Hunting. Mary also appeared on Future Girls: Adventures in Marine Biology and Bad Mother's Handbook and guest starred on What should you do?. More recently Mary was on Glee. She continues to audition daily for feature films, television and voiceover.