Mary Ann O'Brien (born 8 September 1960) is an Irish businesswoman and former politician. She is the founder and chairman of Lily O'Brien's Chocolates and in 1997, she founded the Jack and Jill Foundation with her husband

Jonathan Irwin Jonathan Hiatt Nicolson Dermot Irwin (21 June 1941 – 10 December 2023) was a British-Irish bloodstock agent, auctioneer, stud owner, publisher, racetrack executive and charity founder. In 1997, he founded the Jack and Jill Foundation with h ...

, to provide home health care to severely sick babies. It was set up as a direct response to their experience of caring at home for their son Jack, born with severe brain damage in 1996. O'Brien's family background is in

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

- her father Phonsie O'Brien and uncle

Vincent O'Brien Michael Vincent O'Brien (9 April 1917 – 1 June 2009) was an Irish race horse trainer from Churchtown, County Cork, Ireland. In 2003 he was voted the greatest influence in horse racing history in a worldwide poll hosted by the ''Racing Pos ...

were both notable racehorse trainers. In May 2011, she was

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. At the launch of

Renua The Centre Party of Ireland, formerly Renua, is a fringe political party in Ireland. The party was launched on 13 March 2015, with former Fine Gael TD Lucinda Creighton as founding leader. Prior to its launch it had used the slogan Reboot Ire ...

in March 2015, O'Brien was announced as a party candidate. O'Brien clarified that she would remain independent while a Senator and join Renua to stand at the 2016 general election. However, O'Brien did not contest the 2016 general election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Mary Ann 1960 births Living people Independent members of Seanad Éireann Politicians from County Waterford 20th-century Irish businesswomen 20th-century Irish businesspeople Members of the 24th Seanad 21st-century women members of Seanad Éireann Renua politicians Nominated members of Seanad Éireann 21st-century Irish businesswomen 21st-century Irish businesspeople