Marie-Louise O'Donnell (born 5 September 1952) is an Irish academic, and later broadcaster and politician, who served as a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

from 2011 to 2020, after being

nominated by the Taoiseach A candidate, or nominee, is a prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position. For example, one can be a candidate for membership in a group or election to an office, in which case a ...

. She played a key role in the arts at

Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) () is a Third-level education in the Republic of Ireland, university based on the Northside, Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Highe ...

over a 23-year period, including in the launch of the Helix cultural centre.

Early life and education

From

Foxford Foxford () is a town 16 km south of Ballina, County Mayo, Ballina in County Mayo, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It stands on the N26 road, N26 roads in Ireland, national primary route from Swinford to Ballina and has Foxford railway station ...

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

, O'Donnell is the daughter and second child of Frank O'Donnell from Foxford (relatives founded the Foxford Woolen Mills, in which her father and uncles worked) and Maire Cranny from

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, standing on the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Down, Down and County Armagh, Armagh. It is near Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, the border with the ...

, a speech and drama teacher, still working in southern County Dublin as of 2018. The family moved to Dublin but O'Donnell and her brother spent summer and Easter holidays in Mayo. O'Donnell studied education and English at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

, then took a master's degree in Education at

NUI Maynooth Maynooth University (MU) (), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. Maynooth University was formerly known as National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ). It was Ireland ...

, and another, in Modern Drama, at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

. Later she studied theatre, including direction, and voice and other acting skills, at

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...

in London.

Career

Education and the Arts

O'Donnell became head of drama at the teacher training college,

Carysfort College Our Lady of Mercy College, Carysfort (commonly known as Carysfort College) was a ''College of Education'' in Dublin, Ireland from its foundation in 1877 until its closure in 1988. Educating primary school teachers, and located in a parkland cam ...

, where she taught for ten years, until the college's closure in 1988, when she was appointed as a lecturer in the School of Communications at

(DCU). At DCU for 23 years, she taught a range of communications and arts courses, including radio documentary making, storytelling and public speaking, and the university sent her for training at the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. Research interests included theatrical and radio voice performance, and ancient and modern chorus speech. She also became involved in building the arts aspect of campus life, including DCU Arts Week, the Writer in Residence Programme, Ford Society Awards and Children's Arts Days. She worked on productions including the Larkin Concert Series, Wilde Space Theatre, Open Air Opera, RIAM graduate concerts, and a performance at DCU by the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

. This work included a key role in the development of The Helix cultural centre, especially including its performance spaces. When the Helix launched, she took a role as associate director, and later managed the smaller of its two theatre spaces, The Space. O'Donnell has also lectured extensively in Ireland, Europe and the US in the areas of education, and Irish culture, especially drama and language. In the early 2000s, she also spent six months as a touring actor across the UK and Ireland, in

The Merry Wives of Windsor ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...

and ''King John'' with the Northern Broadsides company. O'Donnell served two terms on the board of the

National Concert Hall The National Concert Hall (NCH) (An Ceoláras Náisiúnta) is a national cultural institution, sometimes described as "the home of music in Ireland". It comprises the actual concert hall operation, which in various chambers hosts over 1,000 ...

in the 1990s and 2000s. In 2004, she co-founded, with Andy Hinds, the theatrical company ''Classic Stage Ireland'', which produced Shakespeare and ancient Greek drama.

Media

O'Donnell first rose to prominence in the media as a reporter on

RTÉ Radio 1 RTÉ Radio 1 () is an Irish national radio station owned and operated by RTÉ and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926. The total budget for the station in 2010 w ...

's '' Today with Pat Kenny'' in the summer of 2010. However, according to a friend who spoke to ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'': ""It's one of those 'overnight success stories' that was actually years in the making. She trained in radio production and presentation with the BBC and presented programmes for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

." A colleague told the same publication "It's extraordinary the amount of people she knows and counts among her friends.

Gay Byrne Gabriel Mary Byrne (5 August 1934 – 4 November 2019) was an Irish presenter and host of radio and television. His most notable role was as the first host of '' The Late Late Show'' over a 37-year period spanning 1962 until 1999. ''The Late La ...

Charlie McCreevy Charles McCreevy (born 30 September 1949) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services from 2004 to 2010, Minister for Finance from 1997 to 2004, Minister for Tourism and Trad ...

, many Fine Gael TDs – she's genuinely close to many people. I accompanied her on a trip to America at one stage and she even had a network there."

Political appointment

In May 2011,

Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Enda Kenny Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence (Ireland), Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 201 ...

nominated O'Donnell to the

24th Seanad The 24th Seanad was in office from 2011 to 2016. An election to Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), followed the 2011 general election to the 31st Dáil on 25 February. There are 60 seats in the Seanad: 43 were el ...

. O'Donnell indicated that the appointment was a surprise, and she did not enter as a member of any party. Kenny again nominated her to the

25th Seanad The 25th Seanad was in office from 2016 to 2020. An election to Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), followed the 2016 general election to the 32nd Dáil on 26 February. There are 60 seats in the Seanad: 43 were el ...

in May 2016. She ousted David Norris from his role as leader of the Seanad's independent Technical Group on 29 June 2016; however, she later left the group.

Recent years

More recently, in addition to her work with RTÉ and presence in the Seanad, she has appeared as a panellist on

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso * Canal 3 Niger, a commercial television channel in Niger * Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala * Can ...

's ''

Tonight with Vincent Browne ''Tonight with Vincent Browne'' (formerly ''Nightly News with Vincent Browne'') was a news analysis, Current affairs (news format), current affairs and politics programme which was broadcast on Republic of Ireland, Ireland's Virgin Media One, T ...

'', often featuring in the section of the programme that reviews the following morning's newspapers. She is noted for her persistent and firm defence of Enda Kenny. In March 2018 she sparked criticism after stating teenagers below the age of 18 should “stay away from politics” O'Donnell commenced PhD studies on university teaching at St Patrick's College, Drumcondra, now the DCU Institute of Education, in 2009.

Personal life

O'Donnell has one son.

References

External links

The Next Time You Blame Americans For Stereotyping The Irish
{{DEFAULTSORT:Odonnell, Marie-Louise 1952 births Living people Academics of Dublin City University Irish theatre managers and producers Irish stage actresses Politicians from County Mayo 20th-century Irish people Nominated members of Seanad Éireann Independent members of Seanad Éireann Members of the 24th Seanad Members of the 25th Seanad 21st-century women members of Seanad Éireann Irish television presenters Irish women television presenters Irish women radio presenters Radio personalities from the Republic of Ireland Broadcasters from County Mayo Actors from County Mayo