NPC Newsmaker: Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Féin President
Dec 2 2021
WHEN:
Dec 2, 2021 at 10:00am
WHERE:
Fourth Estate Room
CONTACT INFO:
Kate Helster
MORE INFO:
NPC Newsmaker
This event is open only to NPC members & credentialed press
Mary Lou McDonald, president of the Sinn Féin political party, will speak at a National Press Club’s in-person Headliners newsmaker on Thursday, Dec. 2, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the Fourth Estate. McDonald will discuss Brexit’s effect on the island nation’s economic and political stability, the rise of Sinn Féin and the prospects for reunification of Ireland.
McDonald in 2018 assumed the top post after long-time Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams retired after 34 years as president. McDonald made history in June 2020 when she became the first woman to lead the opposition in the Irish parliament. She is the second woman to lead Sinn Féin, following Margaret Buckley, who served as president from 1937 to 1950.
Under McDonald’s leadership, a Sinn Féin that embraced women’s reproductive rights made its best-ever showing in the 2020 general election. It had the most first-preference selections, out polling the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil parties that have long dominated Irish politics. Sinn Féin won 37 seats in the parliament. As leader, McDonald continues Sinn Féin’s quest for the unification of the 26 counties of the Republic of Ireland and the six counties of Northern Ireland in a democratic-socialist Irish republic.
The British partitioned Ireland in 1921 with six northeastern counties remaining part of the United Kingdom as the Republic of Northern Ireland. Twenty-six counties formed the independent Republic of Ireland.
“Friends, the time for change is now. People define change. We are here to build a new and united Ireland in our time. The cynics and the critics say it can’t be done. Well, they are wrong,” she told an October gathering of Sinn Fein membership.
Members, guests, and visitors are required to show proof of vaccination at the entrance to the Club. This can be a physical copy of your vaccination card, or a photo of it on your mobile device. If you cannot show proof of vaccination, you must show a recent negative COVID-19 test (within 48 hours).To read more about Club safety measures, please visit https://www.press.org/safetyfirst.
To submit a question in advance for the speaker, put MCDONALD on the subject line and email to [email protected].