#Beam me up MEP

[someawesomeamvs]

Warning: Flashing lights, potential spoilers

Title: Beam me up

Editors: iBakaCam, NikkiAtobe, IntrincateMind, xPikochan, Shirahiko, CeliaPhantomhive, pixie887, xZorua, Tenebriiis, MonkeyDElly, xMyBlackAcex, HeichouSWAGx, xNerdkat, Jesiii97, PiercedSky, iAlyAMV, XAkarii, JavySempai, NoPromises110, xxKawaiixx, Phlashbak, nagihikoxfan77, iBluerockerx3

Song: Beam Me Up (Crave Vol. 8 Mix)

Artist: Cazzette

Anime: Mawaru Penguindrum, Magi, Free!, Children Who Chase Lost Voices (film), Free!, K Project, Eureka Seven AO, Danganronpa the Animation, Shingeki no Kyojin, Code Geass, Tokyo Ghoul, Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis, Ao no Exorcist, Macross Frontier, Shakugan no Shana, Haikyuu!!, Zankyou no Terror, Sword Art Online, Kyoukai no Kanata, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Gugure! Kokkuri-san, Sasami-san @ ganbaranai

Category: Freestyle

[politicoscope]

Mary Lou McDonald Biography and Profile

New Post has been published on https://www.politicoscope.com/mary-lou-mcdonald-biography-and-profile/

Mary Lou McDonald Biography and Profile

Mary Lou McDonald was born in Dublin on May 1, 1969 and is the new president of Sinn Fein. Her father, Patrick, was a very successful surveyor, married to Joan. She has two brothers: Bernard, a scientist and Patrick, a patent lawyer. Her sister, Joanne, is a teacher. She was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, the University of Limerick and Dublin City University, studying English Literature, European Integration Studies and Human Resource management.

After leaving university, the politician ran for the leadership unopposed and had served as deputy leader since February 2008. She has been a Member of Dáil Éireann, the equivalent of an MP, for Dublin Central since 2011 and had previously served as an MEP for the Dublin constituency from 2004 to 2009.

McDonald was previously a member of Fianna Fáil, another Irish republican party, although quit to join Sinn Fein in 1998. She first ran for public office back in 2002, unsuccessfully contesting the Dublin West seat, winning just eight per cent of the vote. She married her husband Martin Lanigan in 1996 and has two children. Raised in the affluent Rathgar area, she she has two brothers and a sister. She has previously said that she ‘completely understood and understand why people volunteered for the IRA’.

Mary Lou McDonald Full Biography and Profile

Mary Lou McDonald (Mary Louise McDonald) was born on 1 May 1969. Mary Lou McDonald a Leader of Sinn Féin and Teachta Dála for the Dublin Central constituency. Mary Lou is married to Martin and they have two young children, Iseult and Gerard. She is proud to represent the people of Dublin Central where she has a reputation for hard work and championing the needs of her constituency both locally and nationally.

Prior to becoming Leader of Sinn Féin in February 2018 Mary Lou was Deputy Leader of the party. Following her election to the Dáil in 2011 Mary Lou was Sinn Féin’s Spokesperson for Public Expenditure and Reform and on her re-election in 2016 Sinn Féin’s All-Ireland Spokesperson for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. She was a prominent member of the Public Accounts Committee between 2011 and 2017 holding Ministers and senior civil servants to account. She has also served on the Joint Oireachtas Committees for Public Expenditure and Reform and the Future of Mental Health.

She was an MEP for Dublin from 2004 to 2009 and during her time in the European Parliament Mary Lou was a prominent member of the Employment and Social Affairs committee and Civil Liberties committee.

Educated in Trinity College, Dublin, the University of Limerick and Dublin City University she studied English Literature, European Integration Studies and Human Resource Management. She previously worked as a consultant for the Irish Productivity Centre, a researcher for the Institute of European Affairs and a trainer in the trade union sponsored Partnership Unit of the Educational and Training Services Trust.

‘Peace Negotiator’ She later joined the Irish National Congress, a fringe Republican group, but left and before long she joined Sinn Féin, becoming the party’s standard bearer in Dublin West, where she stood unsuccessfully for the party in the 2002 general election. In 2004, describing her occupation as a “peace negotiator”, she won a seat for the party in the European Parliament. The coming political party needed politicians, and McDonald was on the up.

But setbacks followed: in 2007 she failed to be elected to the Dáil and in 2009, she lost her European Parliament seat. But she did not lose faith, nor did the party lose faith in her. By now she was vice-president of the party, and openly speculated on as a future leader. She finally won a Dáil seat in 2011, comfortably retaining it in 2016.

By then she was more or less accepted as Adams’ successor, having demonstrated complete loyalty to the leader during the excruciating controversies involving sex abuse in the Republican movement, and in Adams own family.

Mary Lou McDonald Quotes

In the spring of 1981, when she was just 12 years old, Mary Lou McDonald was watching a news programme about the hunger strikes in Northern Ireland:

“Anyone of my generation who saw those images of the H-blocks beamed into their homes was changed. For me it was the precise moment that I, as a Dublin girl, realised how seriously wrong something was. I completely understood and understand why people volunteered for the IRA. I support and recognise the right to meet force with force. Do I understand why volunteers came forward; was it necessary to take up arms against the British state in the north? I believe it was, even though I take no pleasure in saying that.”

Mary Lou McDonald Biography and Profile (Mary Lou McDonald / Politicoscope)

[data-center-design]

Data Center Design Consideration: Electrical Rooms (2)

So far we have reviewed few types of general interior electrical spaces that factor into new building design in Part (1) - Data Center Design Consideration: Electrical Rooms - Working Spaces, Dedicated Spaces and Main Equipment Rooms.

Let's further explore the considerations of Distribution Pathways and Local/Branch Equipment Rooms when designing MEP spaces.

Distribution Pathways

Distribution pathways are needed for interconnecting all the electrical equipment and end-user devices, and the pathways will affect where rooms are located. Conduits can be routed above the equipment, below ground, or in the ceiling space of the floor below, though overhead conduits need space within the rooms to leave the equipment and transition to the desired route going to other parts of the building (see picture below). The routing of the feeders and how they enter/exit the distribution equipment must be evaluated during design and reconfirmed during the shop drawing review, as this will impact how the equipment is constructed and affect its physical size.

Conduit pathways need to be considered when designing electrical rooms to ensure proper clearances are met and that the distribution is efficient.

Below grade conduit routing needs to be coordinated with other utilities and footing/foundation elements. The restrictions that these place on the routing may impact the layout of the equipment in the room and the size of the space needed. Similarly, beams on the floor above or below the equipment may require an offset of conduit or shifting of the equipment to allow for the conduit installation to effectively occur.

Horizontal pathways can define the placement of electrical rooms, as other building elements may impede these routes and affect installation. Structural beams and large ductwork can become obstacles, especially in tandem with high ceilings. Large-volume spaces like gymnasiums and atriums require extra care as to how conduit will be routed across or around these areas, especially when the entering/exiting pathway would be lower in elevation than the ceiling.

Vertical risers are typically accommodated in either one of two ways—through shafts (pull boxes may be required depending on the height of the building and conduit layout) or stacked electrical closets. Stacked closets allow for the busway or conduits that distribute power throughout the building to be run through these spaces for a more efficient and less expensive installation. If these closets are constructed with 2-hour-rated partitions, the stacked rooms can provide the code-required circuit protection for EPSS feeders and fire alarm circuits without having to rely on more costly wiring methods.

Local/branch Equipment Rooms

A third space type, the local/branch equipment room, is often referred to as an electrical closet (see picture below). Distribution panels, branch circuit panels, and low-voltage transformers are typically located in these spaces and directly serve the end-user loads: lighting, receptacles, and small equipment. Lighting control system panels and devices (and other electrical system devices) are sometimes also located in these rooms. Given the amount of change that occurs in buildings over their lifespan, extra wall space should always be provided in these rooms for future equipment.

The electrical closet is arranged to meet multiple requirements. First, all code clearances have been met. Additionally, it provides a vertical pathway for feeders extending up through the building.

In multistory buildings, these spaces should be stacked. The placement of electrical closets within a building’s footprint is often an item of much debate and discussion with the rest of the design team. The NEC has set restrictions on piping and ductwork routed through these rooms (i.e., dedicated spaces). Conduit needs to be routed out of the room to the floor or area served; minimizing branch circuit lengths help avoid excessive voltage drop and reduce distribution costs. These rooms should be located as close to the center of the area served, with conduits routed out in all directions.

Avoid specific adjacency to other building elements. Often, closets are targeted for location next to mechanical shafts, but the need to get duct-work and/or piping out of these becomes challenging and conflicts with the electrical equipment’s dedicated space. Similarly, locations next to stairs or elevator shafts present other challenges and limit the routing of conduits out of the electrical rooms. Locating electrical rooms next to these, especially if placed between, should be carefully evaluated to ensure there is enough space and flexibility for conduits.

Additional Space Needs

Outside of working- and dedicated-space needs, there are many special considerations for electrical rooms that depend on building programs as well as exterior spaces that will directly impact how the electrical systems are designed. The needs and expectations associated with an office building are very different from that of a data center or hospital with regard to the electrical distribution systems. Redundancy and resiliency are essential for mission critical-type facilities. Flooding due to natural disasters is a key element in determining equipment placement. These equipment should be located above the anticipated flood levels. This ensures ongoing continued operations during and after an event.

Mission critical and safety-critical installations require added redundancy to ensure the continuity of business operations. Redundancy of systems requires more space, as the equipment is separated into different rooms in different parts of the building. Having panels that are part of a redundant distribution arrangement (A and B sources) located adjacent or in close proximity to each other in the same electrical room greatly minimizes the value that the intended redundancy offers. The redundant equipment should be located in separately rated spaces, with the A sources and distribution located apart from the B sources and distribution.

Additional clearance requirements include allowing for future equipment to be moved into a room or allowing for the eventual replacement of that same equipment. While code may only require 3 or 4 ft of clearance in front of a piece of equipment, the physical dimension of the equipment could be larger. Because of this, the only way to effectively remove and reinstall a replacement is to leave an area that is larger than the footprint of the equipment.

Getting equipment from the exterior of a building to its final location may not always be a concern during the initial building construction, but it will certainly be an issue during later time periods of equipment modifications, additions, or replacement. The entire pathway from the building exterior, including doorways, may need to be enlarged due to the height or width of the equipment. If the equipment is located on a floor level that is below- or abovegrade, then area wells, reinforced floors, and a pathway or removable sections of the exterior wall assembly may be required.

Buildings are expected to have a life well beyond the initial install, and yet future growth and conduit installation are rarely considered. This automatically infers change, which will likely come in the form of added equipment and conduit. Initial planning and system design should account for this by including spare breakers, additional distribution sections, and oversized-conduit rack supports.

About us

Strategic Media Asia (SMA) is one of the approved CPD course providers of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) UK. The team exists to provide an interactive environment and opportunities for members of ICT industry and facilities' engineers to exchange professional views and experience.

SMA connects IT, Facilities and Design. For the Data Center Design Consideration, please visit

(1) Site Selection, (2) Space Planning, (3) Cooling, (4) Redundancy, (5) Fire Suppression, (6) Meet Me Rooms, (7) UPS Selection, (8) Raised Floor, (9) Code & Standards, (10) Transformers and Harmonic Distortion, (11) Multi-mode UPS Systems, and (12) Electrical Rooms (I) and (II)

All topics focus on key components and provide technical advice and recommendations for designing a data center and critical facilities.

[shannonsmithnc]

Announcing Autodesk Structural Precast Extension for Revit 2018, a notable step toward the future of automatically making structural things

Autodesk brings into play a new automated workflow for the precast concrete industry. The Autodesk Structural Precast Extension for Revit 2018 is a BIM-centric offering for modeling and detailing precast elements that promotes productivity and precision for engineers, detailers and fabricators working on typical building projects in the precast industry. As an app for Autodesk Revit software, Structural Precast for Revit provides Revit users access to powerful tools for automatic rule-based segmentation, reinforcement, shop drawings and CAM files generation of precast planar concrete elements. The app will be available in a few days on the Autodesk App Store.

Leveraging the concept of Parts, which support the construction modeling process by letting you divide certain elements from the design intent model into discrete parts, the app provides the opportunity of having one single source of truth for various personas that need to work with the model. This way, designers’ and fabricators’ perspectives are respected and various Levels of Development can be displayed – two key benefits of embracing a Revit-based workflow for Precast projects.

Based on predefined parameters in the “Configuration” dialogue box, you can specify the rules that will help drive the automated workflow downstream from Design to Fabrication. First up, the elements are automatically segmented and fitted with connectors, lifters and bushings. All of these are actually Revit families, so customization is easy. Reinforcement is also done automatically and you can define multiple patterns, based on fabric sheets or rebar sets. There is even a tool that creates Custom Fabric Sheets, where each wire can have its own diameter, length and distance with respect to the adjacent wires. This is useful both for optimizing the rebar consumption based on structural analysis and for minimizing clashes with various MEP equipment that might be embedded or going through the panels.

Speaking of embeds, the app comes with another tool that automatically adds to the corresponding precast assemblies all the electrical sockets, cable ducts, extra rebars or any other kind of component that is in the model. This way, the precast walls and slabs will contain the logic that is required for fabrication, minimizing much of the hassle in the factory or on site.

Precast solid wall assembly, fitted with reinforcement and mounting parts.

One particularly powerful tool that Structural Precast for Revit offers is Automatic Shop Drawings. Once the company’s standards related to drawing style and content are embedded in the drawing templates, for each precast element the drawing is created, with all relevant views and bills of materials. If required, multiple shop drawings for each assembly can be generated; for instance, one showing the reinforcement and one highlighting the position of the embeds. It’s also worth mentioning that this Automation tool can be used with company standards for all elements at once, all elements per submittal or per element.

Automatic shop drawing sample for a precast solid wall.

And because we are working in Revit, coordination of the precast model with Architecture and MEP comes as a natural benefit. In the highly likely event that changes need to be performed to the precast elements (we all know change is a daily routine in the construction industry) you don’t have to worry: the precast elements, shop drawings and bills of materials are automatically updated—helping to keep information up-to-date.

When Fabrication is ready to start, with just one click, the creation of CAM files is done. Both Unitechnik (versions 5.2 and 6.0) and PXML (version 1.3) are supported. The various file naming options and output settings offer flexibility to generate these deliverables simultaneously in a swift and tailored fashion.

Precast solid wall checked for production using Progress Machine & Automation AviCAD software, based on a PXML file.

The product is mostly suitable for typical building projects, made up of slabs and walls produced in factories with a high level of automation. Currently, three types of elements are supported by the new app: Solid Walls, Solid Slabs and Hollow Core Slabs.

Of course, we need to remind ourselves that it’s not only about design and detailing, but also about construction coordination, planning and execution. And that’s when I recommend you to export the Revit model to Navisworks Manage and BIM 360 Team. Or, if you are in the position to meet with your customer and walk him or her through the details of their future building, why not do it in Revit LIVE, so she/he can view, better understand, feel and experience it before it is being built?

Coordination view of the precast solid wall in BIM 360 Team.

With Structural Precast for Revit, Autodesk makes a notable step ahead for the future of automatically making structural things with this new precast concrete design software tool. So go ahead, try it, and let me know your impressions around it.

        The post Announcing Autodesk Structural Precast Extension for Revit 2018, a notable step toward the future of automatically making structural things appeared first on BIM and Beam.

from BIM and Beam http://blogs.autodesk.com/bim-and-beam/2017/07/12/autodesk-structural-precast-extension-revit/ via IFTTT

[politicoscope]

Mary Lou McDonald Biography and Profile

New Post has been published on https://www.politicoscope.com/mary-lou-mcdonald-biography-and-profile/

Mary Lou McDonald Biography and Profile

Mary Lou McDonald was born in Dublin on May 1, 1969 and is the new president of Sinn Fein. Her father, Patrick, was a very successful surveyor, married to Joan. She has two brothers: Bernard, a scientist and Patrick, a patent lawyer. Her sister, Joanne, is a teacher. She was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, the University of Limerick and Dublin City University, studying English Literature, European Integration Studies and Human Resource management.

After leaving university, the politician ran for the leadership unopposed and had served as deputy leader since February 2008. She has been a Member of Dáil Éireann, the equivalent of an MP, for Dublin Central since 2011 and had previously served as an MEP for the Dublin constituency from 2004 to 2009.

McDonald was previously a member of Fianna Fáil, another Irish republican party, although quit to join Sinn Fein in 1998. She first ran for public office back in 2002, unsuccessfully contesting the Dublin West seat, winning just eight per cent of the vote. She married her husband Martin Lanigan in 1996 and has two children. Raised in the affluent Rathgar area, she she has two brothers and a sister. She has previously said that she ‘completely understood and understand why people volunteered for the IRA’.

Mary Lou McDonald Full Biography and Profile

Mary Lou McDonald (Mary Louise McDonald) was born on 1 May 1969. Mary Lou McDonald a Leader of Sinn Féin and Teachta Dála for the Dublin Central constituency. Mary Lou is married to Martin and they have two young children, Iseult and Gerard. She is proud to represent the people of Dublin Central where she has a reputation for hard work and championing the needs of her constituency both locally and nationally.

Prior to becoming Leader of Sinn Féin in February 2018 Mary Lou was Deputy Leader of the party. Following her election to the Dáil in 2011 Mary Lou was Sinn Féin’s Spokesperson for Public Expenditure and Reform and on her re-election in 2016 Sinn Féin’s All-Ireland Spokesperson for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. She was a prominent member of the Public Accounts Committee between 2011 and 2017 holding Ministers and senior civil servants to account. She has also served on the Joint Oireachtas Committees for Public Expenditure and Reform and the Future of Mental Health.

She was an MEP for Dublin from 2004 to 2009 and during her time in the European Parliament Mary Lou was a prominent member of the Employment and Social Affairs committee and Civil Liberties committee.

Educated in Trinity College, Dublin, the University of Limerick and Dublin City University she studied English Literature, European Integration Studies and Human Resource Management. She previously worked as a consultant for the Irish Productivity Centre, a researcher for the Institute of European Affairs and a trainer in the trade union sponsored Partnership Unit of the Educational and Training Services Trust.

‘Peace Negotiator’ She later joined the Irish National Congress, a fringe Republican group, but left and before long she joined Sinn Féin, becoming the party’s standard bearer in Dublin West, where she stood unsuccessfully for the party in the 2002 general election. In 2004, describing her occupation as a “peace negotiator”, she won a seat for the party in the European Parliament. The coming political party needed politicians, and McDonald was on the up.

But setbacks followed: in 2007 she failed to be elected to the Dáil and in 2009, she lost her European Parliament seat. But she did not lose faith, nor did the party lose faith in her. By now she was vice-president of the party, and openly speculated on as a future leader. She finally won a Dáil seat in 2011, comfortably retaining it in 2016.

By then she was more or less accepted as Adams’ successor, having demonstrated complete loyalty to the leader during the excruciating controversies involving sex abuse in the Republican movement, and in Adams own family.

Mary Lou McDonald Quotes

In the spring of 1981, when she was just 12 years old, Mary Lou McDonald was watching a news programme about the hunger strikes in Northern Ireland:

“Anyone of my generation who saw those images of the H-blocks beamed into their homes was changed. For me it was the precise moment that I, as a Dublin girl, realised how seriously wrong something was. I completely understood and understand why people volunteered for the IRA. I support and recognise the right to meet force with force. Do I understand why volunteers came forward; was it necessary to take up arms against the British state in the north? I believe it was, even though I take no pleasure in saying that.”

Mary Lou McDonald Biography and Profile (Mary Lou McDonald / Politicoscope)

[politicoscope]

Mary Lou McDonald Biography and Profile

New Post has been published on https://www.politicoscope.com/mary-lou-mcdonald-biography-and-profile/

Mary Lou McDonald Biography and Profile

Mary Lou McDonald was born in Dublin on May 1, 1969 and is the new president of Sinn Fein. Her father, Patrick, was a very successful surveyor, married to Joan. She has two brothers: Bernard, a scientist and Patrick, a patent lawyer. Her sister, Joanne, is a teacher. She was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, the University of Limerick and Dublin City University, studying English Literature, European Integration Studies and Human Resource management.

After leaving university, the politician ran for the leadership unopposed and had served as deputy leader since February 2008. She has been a Member of Dáil Éireann, the equivalent of an MP, for Dublin Central since 2011 and had previously served as an MEP for the Dublin constituency from 2004 to 2009.

McDonald was previously a member of Fianna Fáil, another Irish republican party, although quit to join Sinn Fein in 1998. She first ran for public office back in 2002, unsuccessfully contesting the Dublin West seat, winning just eight per cent of the vote. She married her husband Martin Lanigan in 1996 and has two children. Raised in the affluent Rathgar area, she she has two brothers and a sister. She has previously said that she ‘completely understood and understand why people volunteered for the IRA’.

Mary Lou McDonald Full Biography and Profile

Mary Lou McDonald (Mary Louise McDonald) was born on 1 May 1969. Mary Lou McDonald a Leader of Sinn Féin and Teachta Dála for the Dublin Central constituency. Mary Lou is married to Martin and they have two young children, Iseult and Gerard. She is proud to represent the people of Dublin Central where she has a reputation for hard work and championing the needs of her constituency both locally and nationally.

Prior to becoming Leader of Sinn Féin in February 2018 Mary Lou was Deputy Leader of the party. Following her election to the Dáil in 2011 Mary Lou was Sinn Féin’s Spokesperson for Public Expenditure and Reform and on her re-election in 2016 Sinn Féin’s All-Ireland Spokesperson for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. She was a prominent member of the Public Accounts Committee between 2011 and 2017 holding Ministers and senior civil servants to account. She has also served on the Joint Oireachtas Committees for Public Expenditure and Reform and the Future of Mental Health.

She was an MEP for Dublin from 2004 to 2009 and during her time in the European Parliament Mary Lou was a prominent member of the Employment and Social Affairs committee and Civil Liberties committee.

Educated in Trinity College, Dublin, the University of Limerick and Dublin City University she studied English Literature, European Integration Studies and Human Resource Management. She previously worked as a consultant for the Irish Productivity Centre, a researcher for the Institute of European Affairs and a trainer in the trade union sponsored Partnership Unit of the Educational and Training Services Trust.

‘Peace Negotiator’ She later joined the Irish National Congress, a fringe Republican group, but left and before long she joined Sinn Féin, becoming the party’s standard bearer in Dublin West, where she stood unsuccessfully for the party in the 2002 general election. In 2004, describing her occupation as a “peace negotiator”, she won a seat for the party in the European Parliament. The coming political party needed politicians, and McDonald was on the up.

But setbacks followed: in 2007 she failed to be elected to the Dáil and in 2009, she lost her European Parliament seat. But she did not lose faith, nor did the party lose faith in her. By now she was vice-president of the party, and openly speculated on as a future leader. She finally won a Dáil seat in 2011, comfortably retaining it in 2016.

By then she was more or less accepted as Adams’ successor, having demonstrated complete loyalty to the leader during the excruciating controversies involving sex abuse in the Republican movement, and in Adams own family.

Mary Lou McDonald Quotes

In the spring of 1981, when she was just 12 years old, Mary Lou McDonald was watching a news programme about the hunger strikes in Northern Ireland:

“Anyone of my generation who saw those images of the H-blocks beamed into their homes was changed. For me it was the precise moment that I, as a Dublin girl, realised how seriously wrong something was. I completely understood and understand why people volunteered for the IRA. I support and recognise the right to meet force with force. Do I understand why volunteers came forward; was it necessary to take up arms against the British state in the north? I believe it was, even though I take no pleasure in saying that.”

Mary Lou McDonald Biography and Profile (Mary Lou McDonald / Politicoscope)

[politicoscope]

Mary Lou McDonald Biography and Profile

New Post has been published on https://www.politicoscope.com/mary-lou-mcdonald-biography-and-profile/

Mary Lou McDonald Biography and Profile

Mary Lou McDonald was born in Dublin on May 1, 1969 and is the new president of Sinn Fein. Her father, Patrick, was a very successful surveyor, married to Joan. She has two brothers: Bernard, a scientist and Patrick, a patent lawyer. Her sister, Joanne, is a teacher. She was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, the University of Limerick and Dublin City University, studying English Literature, European Integration Studies and Human Resource management.

After leaving university, the politician ran for the leadership unopposed and had served as deputy leader since February 2008. She has been a Member of Dáil Éireann, the equivalent of an MP, for Dublin Central since 2011 and had previously served as an MEP for the Dublin constituency from 2004 to 2009.

McDonald was previously a member of Fianna Fáil, another Irish republican party, although quit to join Sinn Fein in 1998. She first ran for public office back in 2002, unsuccessfully contesting the Dublin West seat, winning just eight per cent of the vote. She married her husband Martin Lanigan in 1996 and has two children. Raised in the affluent Rathgar area, she she has two brothers and a sister. She has previously said that she ‘completely understood and understand why people volunteered for the IRA’.

Mary Lou McDonald Full Biography and Profile

Mary Lou McDonald (Mary Louise McDonald) was born on 1 May 1969. Mary Lou McDonald a Leader of Sinn Féin and Teachta Dála for the Dublin Central constituency. Mary Lou is married to Martin and they have two young children, Iseult and Gerard. She is proud to represent the people of Dublin Central where she has a reputation for hard work and championing the needs of her constituency both locally and nationally.

Prior to becoming Leader of Sinn Féin in February 2018 Mary Lou was Deputy Leader of the party. Following her election to the Dáil in 2011 Mary Lou was Sinn Féin’s Spokesperson for Public Expenditure and Reform and on her re-election in 2016 Sinn Féin’s All-Ireland Spokesperson for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. She was a prominent member of the Public Accounts Committee between 2011 and 2017 holding Ministers and senior civil servants to account. She has also served on the Joint Oireachtas Committees for Public Expenditure and Reform and the Future of Mental Health.

She was an MEP for Dublin from 2004 to 2009 and during her time in the European Parliament Mary Lou was a prominent member of the Employment and Social Affairs committee and Civil Liberties committee.

Educated in Trinity College, Dublin, the University of Limerick and Dublin City University she studied English Literature, European Integration Studies and Human Resource Management. She previously worked as a consultant for the Irish Productivity Centre, a researcher for the Institute of European Affairs and a trainer in the trade union sponsored Partnership Unit of the Educational and Training Services Trust.

‘Peace Negotiator’ She later joined the Irish National Congress, a fringe Republican group, but left and before long she joined Sinn Féin, becoming the party’s standard bearer in Dublin West, where she stood unsuccessfully for the party in the 2002 general election. In 2004, describing her occupation as a “peace negotiator”, she won a seat for the party in the European Parliament. The coming political party needed politicians, and McDonald was on the up.

But setbacks followed: in 2007 she failed to be elected to the Dáil and in 2009, she lost her European Parliament seat. But she did not lose faith, nor did the party lose faith in her. By now she was vice-president of the party, and openly speculated on as a future leader. She finally won a Dáil seat in 2011, comfortably retaining it in 2016.

By then she was more or less accepted as Adams’ successor, having demonstrated complete loyalty to the leader during the excruciating controversies involving sex abuse in the Republican movement, and in Adams own family.

Mary Lou McDonald Quotes

In the spring of 1981, when she was just 12 years old, Mary Lou McDonald was watching a news programme about the hunger strikes in Northern Ireland:

“Anyone of my generation who saw those images of the H-blocks beamed into their homes was changed. For me it was the precise moment that I, as a Dublin girl, realised how seriously wrong something was. I completely understood and understand why people volunteered for the IRA. I support and recognise the right to meet force with force. Do I understand why volunteers came forward; was it necessary to take up arms against the British state in the north? I believe it was, even though I take no pleasure in saying that.”

Mary Lou McDonald Biography and Profile (Mary Lou McDonald / Politicoscope)