Name Martin McAleese Children 3 | Profession Dentist,Accountant Spouse Mary McAleese (m. 1976) Religion Roman Catholicism | |
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People also search for Mary McAleese, Jackie McDonald, SarahMai McAleese, Justin McAleese, Emma McAleese Education Queen's University Belfast, Trinity College, Dublin | ||
Political party Independent politician | ||
Martin David McAleese (born 24 March 1951) is a former First Gentleman of Ireland, as the husband of the 8th President of Ireland, Mary McAleese. He served as a Senator from 2011 to 2013, upon being Nominated by the Taoiseach. He has served as Chancellor of Dublin City University since August 2011.
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Early life and education
Martin McAleese was born in Belfast and educated at St Mary's Christian Brothers' Grammar School, Belfast and Queens University Belfast from which he obtained a B.Sc.(Hons) in Physics. He played Gaelic football for the Antrim Minors and was captain of the team in 1969. In 1972 after he graduated he moved to Dublin and trained there as an accountant with Stokes, Kennedy, Crowley chartered accountants. He later worked as financial controller for an Aer Lingus subsidiary,
In 1980 he returned to full-time education at Trinity College, Dublin, to train as a dentist. He subsequently moved back to Northern Ireland where he practiced as a dentist in Crossmaglen and Bessbrook, County Armagh.
Personal life
He married Mary Leneghan in 1976 and they lived first in Scholarstown, County Dublin for a short period and then for almost 12 years near Ratoath, County Meath. The couple have three children, Emma and twins SaraMai and Justin. The family moved to Rostrevor, County Down in 1987 when Martin set up practice in County Armagh.
Career
While his wife served as President of Ireland, McAleese initiated a series of meetings with senior Ulster loyalist paramilitary leaders to pursue peace negotiations. These actions did not take place without controversy, but have been widely viewed as instrumental in bringing loyalist paramilitary groups to peace talks.
In May 2011, McAleese was appointed as a Senator by the Taoiseach Enda Kenny. In August 2011 he was appointed the Chancellor of Dublin City University, taking over from David Byrne.
On 1 February 2013, McAleese announced his intention to resign his seat.
He was the Chairman of the Inter-Departmental Committee which was set up by the Irish Government to investigate the Magdalene laundries. His findings have been criticised by survivors and researchers from the Magdalene Names project.
On Friday 18 – Saturday 19 October 2014, McAleese attended the One Young World Summit in Dublin, Ireland as a keynote speaker. Here, he hosted a special session for the One Young World Peace and Conflict Resolution Project alongside former Ulster Defence Association (UDA) prisoner Jackie McDonald and former Irish Republican Army (IRA) prisoner Sean Murray. They addressed young people from 191 countries to share and develop ideas to strengthen efforts at conflict resolution in their own countries.