:Mary McAleese

Born Mary Patricia Leneghan ({{langx|ga|Máire Pádraigín Ní Lionnacháin}}), in Ardoyne, north Belfast to Paddy Leneghan from Croghan, County Roscommon and Claire McManus from County Antrim.{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news|title=Father Of Former President To Be Buried Tomorrow|date=18 August 2013|access-date=10 January 2014|work=Irish Times|archive-date=9 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509090002/http://www.irishtimes.com/news}} She is a Catholic but grew up in a largely Protestant neighbourhood.{{cite news|first=James F.|last=Clarity|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/26/world/irishwomen-find-niche-and-it-s-not-in-kitchen.html|title=Irishwomen Find Niche (And It's Not in Kitchen)|date=26 September 1997|access-date=13 December 2009|work=The New York Times|archive-date=13 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113092851/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/26/world/irishwomen-find-niche-and-it-s-not-in-kitchen.html?n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FSubjects%2FW%2FWomen|url-status=live}} Loyalists forced her family to leave the area when the Troubles broke out.{{cite web |url=http://www.belfastmedia.com/features_article.php?ID=1027 |title=Unfinished business with North Belfast |work=Belfastmedia.com |access-date=16 September 2010 |archive-date=14 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314104219/http://www.belfastmedia.com/features_article.php?ID=1027 |url-status=live }} She was educated at St Dominic's High School, an all-girls Catholic grammar school in Belfast.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NFr9NteKEagC&q=%22Mary+McAleese%22+%22St.+Dominic%27s+High+School%22&pg=PA160|title=The A to Z of the Northern Ireland Conflict|last=Gillespie|first=Gordon|date=24 September 2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-7045-1|language=en}} She studied law at Queen's University Belfast, graduating in 1973 with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB Hons) degree.{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/a-high-achieving-northern-catholic-1.115077|title=A high-achieving Northern Catholic|last=Cleary|first=Catherine|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en|access-date=30 January 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.stmartin.ie/mary-mcaleese-and-the-catholic-church/|title=Mary McAleese and the Catholic Church – BLOG|date=21 November 2019|website=St Martin Apostolate|language=en-GB|access-date=7 February 2020|archive-date=7 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200207142526/https://www.stmartin.ie/mary-mcaleese-and-the-catholic-church/|url-status=live}} She was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 1974,{{Cite web|url=https://businessandfinance.com/former-president-mary-mcaleese-receive-2018-tk-whitaker-award/|title=Former President Mary McAleese to receive 2018 TK Whitaker Award|date=5 July 2018|website=Business & Finance|language=en-GB|access-date=30 January 2020|archive-date=30 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200130170950/https://businessandfinance.com/former-president-mary-mcaleese-receive-2018-tk-whitaker-award/|url-status=live}} and was later called to the Irish Bar.{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/a-high-achieving-northern-catholic-1.115077|title=A high-achieving Northern Catholic|last=Cleary|first=Catherine|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en|access-date=7 February 2020}}

In 1976, she married Martin McAleese, an accountant and dentist.{{cite web|title=Mary McAleese Biography|work=Áras an Uachtaráin|url=http://www.president.ie/index.php?section=30&lang=eng|access-date=1 August 2010|archive-date=5 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605015205/http://www.president.ie/index.php?section=30&lang=eng|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0613/mcaleesem.html|title=Honorary degree for Martin McAleese|date=13 June 2007|access-date=21 December 2009|work=RTÉ News|archive-date=13 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100113222904/http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0613/mcaleesem.html|url-status=live}} He assisted his wife with some of her initiatives as president.{{cite news|first=Brian|last=McDonald|url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/heartbroken-town-salutes-as-robbie-gets-transfer-home-1707375.html|title=Heartbroken town salutes as Robbie 'gets transfer home'|date=14 April 2009|access-date=21 December 2009|work=Irish Independent|archive-date=17 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417041909/http://www.independent.ie/national-news/heartbroken-town-salutes-as-robbie-gets-transfer-home-1707375.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|first=Vincent|last=Kearney|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8419471.stm|title=Martin McAleese fails in plan to deliver UDA guns|date=17 December 2009|access-date=21 December 2009|work=BBC News|archive-date=11 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100911084040/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8419471.stm|url-status=live}}{{cite news|first=Alan|last=Murray|url=http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/mcaleese-puts-uvf-guns-out-of-commission-1782342.html|title=McAleese puts UVF guns out of commission|date=21 June 2009|access-date=21 December 2009|work=Irish Independent|archive-date=2 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102132151/http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/mcaleese-puts-uvf-guns-out-of-commission-1782342.html|url-status=live}} They have three children: Emma, born in 1982, who graduated as an engineer from University College Dublin and graduated as a dentist from Trinity College Dublin; and twins born in 1985, Justin, an accountant with a master's degree from University College Dublin, and SaraMai, who obtained a master's degree in biochemistry at the University of Oxford.{{cite news|first=Richie|last=Taylor|url=http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/parenting/a-very-private-affair-1703743.html|title=A very private affair|date=9 April 2009|access-date=21 December 2009|work=Irish Independent|archive-date=13 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090413054644/http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/parenting/a-very-private-affair-1703743.html|url-status=live}} Ahead of the 2015 marriage equality referendum, Justin spoke publicly about growing up gay.{{cite news|first=Fionnan|last=Sheahan|url=http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/exclusive-mcaleeses-son-talks-of-growing-up-as-gay-man-as-he-calls-for-yes-31152459.html|title=Exclusive: McAleese's son talks of growing up as gay man as he calls for Yes|newspaper=Irish Independent|date=18 April 2015|access-date=17 May 2015|archive-date=19 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150419021647/http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/exclusive-mcaleeses-son-talks-of-growing-up-as-gay-man-as-he-calls-for-yes-31152459.html|url-status=live}}

Every year she spends some time with the Poor Clares.{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/president-tells-of-days-spent-living-with-nuns-in-ennis-1.938689|title=President tells of days spent living with nuns in Ennis|last=Deegan|first=Gordon|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en|access-date=30 January 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.nndb.com/people/219/000111883/|title=Mary McAleese|website=nndb.com|access-date=7 February 2020|archive-date=30 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200130162143/https://www.nndb.com/people/219/000111883/|url-status=live}}

In 1975, having spent a year as a practising barrister in Belfast, she was appointed Reid Professor of Criminal Law, Criminology and Penology in Trinity College Dublin,{{cite news|first=Katherine|last=Donnelly|url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/top-scholar-emma--proves-shes-a-chip-off-the-old-block-1735787.html|title=Top scholar Emma proves she's a chip off the old block|date=12 May 2009|access-date=21 December 2009|work=Irish Independent|archive-date=15 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090515131829/http://www.independent.ie/national-news/top-scholar-emma--proves-shes-a-chip-off-the-old-block-1735787.html|url-status=live}} succeeding Mary Robinson.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1680695.stm |title=Europe | Mary Robinson: Human rights champion |work=BBC News |date=18 March 2002 |access-date=28 August 2010 |first=Mark |last=Snelling |archive-date=7 October 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031007201602/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1680695.stm |url-status=live }} Also in 1975, McAleese chaired a meeting at Liberty Hall that advocated a woman's right to choose and was quoted as saying that "I would see the failure to provide abortion as a human rights issue". She later claimed that she was given to understand that the nature of the meeting was to be a discussion among all sides and opinions.Ruth Riddick, The Right to Choose: Questions of Feminist Morality (Dublin 1990) pages 4–9

During the same decade, she was a legal advisor to and a founding member of the Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform. She left this position in 1979, to join RTÉ as a journalist and presenter, during one period as a reporter and presenter for their Frontline replaced by Today Tonight in 1980 programme. However, in RTÉ, she and Alex White (then a TV producer and later a Labour Party TD) were attacked and criticised by a group led by Eoghan Harris, associated with the Workers' Party, over what they perceived as her bias towards republican groups in the North. McAleese was critical of the Provisional IRA, but believed it was important to hear their side of the story; she opposed the Harris faction's support for Section 31, which she believed was an attack on free speech.{{cite book|last1=Hanley|first1=Brian|last2=Millar|first2=Scott|title=The lost revolution: the story of the official IRA and the workers' party|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article6814880.ece|access-date=16 January 2011|date=26 March 2009|publisher=Penguin Ireland|isbn=978-1-84488-120-8|archive-date=1 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110301232732/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article6814880.ece|url-status=dead}} In 1981, she returned to the Reid Professorship, but continued to work part-time for RTÉ for a further four years. In 1987, she returned to Queen's University, to become Director of the Institute of Professional Legal Studies. She stood, unsuccessfully, as a Fianna Fáil candidate in the Dublin South-East constituency at the 1987 general election, receiving 2,243 votes (5.9%).{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}

McAleese has a long-standing involvement in ecumenism and anti-sectarianism. She co-chaired the working party on sectarianism set up by the Irish Inter-Church Meeting in 1991 and its report (1993) was described by Professor Marianne Elliot as "the most notable" work of the Inter-Church Meetings. McAleese was the author and presenter of a successful BBC Radio Ulster series called "The Protestant Mind" which encouraged the divided communities in Northern Ireland to try to stand in each other's shoes. McAleese was a member of the Catholic Church Episcopal Delegation to the New Ireland Forum in 1984, and a member of the Catholic Church delegation to the Northern Ireland Commission on Contentious Parades in 1996. She was also a delegate to the 1995 White House Conference on Trade and Investment in Ireland and to the subsequent Pittsburgh Conference in 1996. She became the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Queen's University Belfast. Prior to becoming president in 1997, McAleese had also held the following positions: Channel 4 Television, Director, Northern Ireland Electricity, Director, Royal Group of Hospitals Trust and Founding member of the Irish Commission for Prisoners Overseas.

McAleese is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders, an international network of current and former women Presidents and Prime Ministers, whose mission is to mobilise the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development.{{cite web|url=http://www.cwwl.org/members.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090710015240/http://www.cwwl.org/members.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 July 2009 |title=Council Members |access-date=12 December 2009 |publisher=Council of Women World Leaders }}

File:President Bill Clinton meets with Irish President Mary McAleese.jpg at Áras an Uachtaráin on 12 December 2000]]

{{Main|1997 Irish presidential election}}

In 1997, McAleese defeated former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds and former minister Michael O'Kennedy in an internal party election held to determine the Fianna Fáil nomination for the Irish presidency.

Her opponents in the 1997 presidential election were Mary Banotti, nominated by Fine Gael, Adi Roche nominated by the Labour Party, Democratic Left and the Green Party, and two candidates standing as Independents nominated by local authorities: Dana Rosemary Scallon and Derek Nally. McAleese won 45.2% of first preference votes. In the second and final count, McAleese was elected having obtained 55.6% of votes against Banotti. On 11 November 1997, she was inaugurated as the eighth President of Ireland. Within weeks of this, she made her first official overseas trip to Lebanon.[http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/1015/1224305838919.html "President revisits Lebanon on her final foreign trip in office"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016212517/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/1015/1224305838919.html |date=16 October 2011 }}, The Irish Times, 15 October 2011.

McAleese described the theme of her presidency as "building bridges". The first individual born in Northern Ireland to become President of Ireland, President McAleese was a regular visitor to Northern Ireland throughout her presidency, where she was on the whole warmly welcomed by both communities, confounding critics who had believed she would be a divisive figure. People from Northern Ireland, indeed people from right across the nine-county Province of Ulster, were regular and recurring visitors to Áras an Uachtaráin while she was president. She is also an admirer of Queen Elizabeth II, whom she came to know when she was Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Queen's University of Belfast. In March 1998, President McAleese stated that she would officially celebrate the Twelfth of July as well as Saint Patrick's Day, recognising the day's importance among Ulster Protestants.

She also incurred some criticism from some of the Irish Catholic hierarchy by taking communion in a Church of Ireland (Anglican) Cathedral, in Dublin, on 7 December 1997, although 78 per cent of Irish people approved of her action in a following opinion poll. While Cardinal Desmond Connell called her action a "sham" and a "deception", Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said it was ironic that "the Church was condemning an act of reconciliation and bridge-building between the denominations".{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/communionwithnon0000vand |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/communionwithnon0000vand/page/51 51]–53 |title=Communion with Non-Catholic Christians: Risks, Challenges, and Opportunities |publisher=Liturgical Press |isbn=9780814628959 |last1=Vanderwilt |first1=Jeffrey Thomas |year=2003 }}

In 1998, she met Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston on an official visit to the United States. In an interview in 2012, she said that Law told her he was "sorry for Catholic Ireland to have you as President" and went on to insult a Minister of State, who was accompanying McAleese. "His remarks were utterly inappropriate and unwelcome," she said. McAleese told the cardinal that she was the "President of Ireland and not just of Catholic Ireland". At this point, a heated argument ensued between the two, according to McAleese.{{cite news | url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/mcaleese-reveals-attack-by-disgraced-cardinal-3251159.html | work=Irish Independent | title=McAleese reveals 'attack' by disgraced cardinal | access-date=7 October 2012 | archive-date=7 October 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007221606/http://www.independent.ie/national-news/mcaleese-reveals-attack-by-disgraced-cardinal-3251159.html | url-status=live }}

{{Main|2004 Irish presidential election}}

McAleese's first seven-year term of office ended in November 2004, but she stood for a second term in the 2004 presidential election. Following the failure of any other candidate to secure the necessary support for nomination, the incumbent president stood unopposed, with no political party affiliation,{{Cite web|date=1 October 2004|title=McAleese to serve second term in office|website=RTÉ.ie |url=https://www.rte.ie/news/2004/1001/55042-president/|language=en|access-date=11 February 2020|archive-date=28 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190928182007/https://www.rte.ie/news/2004/1001/55042-president/|url-status=live}} and was declared elected on 1 October 2004. She was re-inaugurated at the commencement of her second seven-year term on 11 November 2004. McAleese's very high approval ratings were widely seen as the reason for her re-election, with no opposition party willing to bear the cost (financial or political) of competing in an election that would prove difficult to win.{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2004/0207/breaking4.html|title=President would defeat Higgins, poll shows|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=7 February 2004|access-date=28 December 2004|archive-date=10 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010165437/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2004/0207/breaking4.html|url-status=live}}

On 27 January 2005, following her attendance at the ceremony commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp, she created friction by referring to the way some Protestant children in Northern Ireland had been raised to hate Catholics, just as European children "for generations, for centuries" were encouraged to hate Jews.{{cite web|url=http://www.president.ie/index.php?section=5&speech=43&lang=eng|title=Interview with President McAleese, Morning Ireland|work=president.ie|date=27 January 2005|access-date=11 June 2008|archive-date=17 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071217232321/http://www.president.ie/index.php?section=5&speech=43&lang=eng|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4214263.stm|work=BBC News|title=McAleese row over Nazi comments|date=28 January 2005|access-date=18 February 2007|archive-date=29 June 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060629101055/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4214263.stm|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.breakingnews.ie/archives/?c=IRELAND&jp=kfidgbgbqlmh&d=2005-01-27|title=McAleese: Protestant children taught to hate Catholics|work=BreakingNews.ie|date=27 January 2005|access-date=1 September 2007|archive-date=14 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614131746/http://www.breakingnews.ie/archives/?c=IRELAND&jp=kfidgbgbqlmh&d=2005-01-27|url-status=live}} These remarks provoked outrage among unionist politicians. McAleese later apologised,{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4217545.stm|work=BBC News|title=McAleese 'sorry' over Nazi remark|date=29 January 2005|access-date=18 February 2007|archive-date=20 February 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060220210713/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4217545.stm|url-status=live}} conceding that her comments had been unbalanced because she had criticised only the sectarianism found on one side of the community.

File:Mary McAleese and Dmitry Medvedev.jpeg Dmitry Medvedev in 2010]]

She was the Commencement Speaker at Villanova University in Villanova, Pennsylvania, on 22 May 2005. The visit prompted protests by conservatives because of the president's professing heterodox Catholic views on homosexuality and women in the priesthood. She was the commencement speaker at the University of Notre Dame on 21 May 2006. In her commencement address, among other topics, she spoke of her pride at Notre Dame's Irish heritage, including the nickname the "Fighting Irish".{{cite news|url=https://news.nd.edu/news/mary-mcaleese-2006-commencement-address/|work=Notre Dame News|title=Mary McAleese 2006 Commencement address|date=24 May 2006|access-date=30 January 2018|archive-date=3 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803172654/https://news.nd.edu/news/mary-mcaleese-2006-commencement-address/|url-status=live}}

She attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II on 8 April 2005, and the Papal Inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI on 24 April 2005.

McAleese attended the canonisation by Pope Benedict XVI in Rome of Charles of Mount Argus on 3 June 2007.{{cite web|first=Kieron |last=Wood |url=http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2007/05/27/story23952.asp |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070812032258/http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2007/05/27/story23952.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 August 2007 |title=Charles of Mt Argus to be canonised in Rome next weekend |date=27 May 2007 |access-date=12 December 2009 |work=The Sunday Business Post }} She was accompanied by her husband, Martin, Cardinal Desmond Connell, Mary Hanafin, the Minister for Education and Science, together with bishops and other pilgrims.{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0603/mcaleese.html|title=Dublin gets new saint|date=3 June 2007|access-date=12 December 2009|work=RTÉ News|archive-date=24 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024035038/http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0603/mcaleese.html|url-status=live}} She later met the Pope and embarked on other official duties, including a trip to St. Isidore's College, a talk at the Pontifical Irish College and a Mass said especially for the Irish Embassy at Villa Spada chapel.{{cite web|url=http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2007/06/04/story34266.asp |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120714191014/http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2007/06/04/story34266.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 July 2012 |title=Pope canonises Blessed Charles |date=4 June 2007 |access-date=12 December 2009 |work=Irish Examiner }}

In August 2007, she spoke out against homophobia at the International Association of Suicide Prevention's 24th Biennial Conference.{{Cite journal |date=August 31, 2007 |title=Remarks by Mary McAleese, President of Ireland |journal=Crisis |volume=29 |pages=53–55 |doi=10.1027/0227-5910.29.1.53 |url=https://econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/10.1027/0227-5910.29.1.53 |access-date=July 19, 2024|url-access=subscription }}

She paid a seven-day visit to Hollywood in December 2008, alongside Enterprise Ireland and the Irish Film Board on a mission to promote the Irish film and television industry. A reception held in her honour was attended by Ed Begley, Jr. and Fionnula Flanagan. She later met the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger.{{cite news|first=Caitriona|last=Palmer|url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/stars-welcome-as-president-drops-in-1577502.html|title=Star's welcome as President drops in|date=17 December 2008|access-date=21 December 2009|work=Irish Independent|archive-date=26 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090426015015/http://www.independent.ie/national-news/stars-welcome-as-president-drops-in-1577502.html|url-status=live}}

In 2009, Forbes named her among the hundred most powerful women in the world later that year.{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/11/power-women-09_The-100-Most-Powerful-Women_Rank_3.html|title=The 100 Most Powerful Women|work=Forbes.com|date=19 August 2009|access-date=4 September 2017|archive-date=28 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628231621/http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/11/power-women-09_The-100-Most-Powerful-Women_Rank_3.html|url-status=live}}

McAleese undertook an official two-day visit to London on 28–29 February 2010, where she visited the site of the 2012 Summer Olympics, and was guest of honour at the Madejski Stadium for a rugby union match between London Irish and Harlequin F.C.{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/national-news/mcaleese-to-view-2012-olympics-site-2074536.html|title=McAleese to view 2012 Olympics site|date=22 February 2010|access-date=22 February 2010|work=Irish Independent|archive-date=24 February 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100224073013/http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/national-news/mcaleese-to-view-2012-olympics-site-2074536.html|url-status=live}} On 13 May 2010, she attended the Balmoral Show at the Balmoral Showgrounds, which includes the King's Hall, in south Belfast. Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland Martin McGuinness and Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister Michelle Gildernew gave her breakfast and walked around with her during the day.{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0513/mcaleesem.html|title=President hails 'profound transformation'|date=13 May 2010|access-date=13 May 2010|work=RTÉ News|archive-date=15 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100515043023/http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0513/mcaleesem.html|url-status=live}}

She began an official visit to New York City for several days, on 16 May 2010. She began by appearing at an Irish Voice event in honour of life science. She then addressed business leaders at the New York Stock Exchange to say Irish people were "as mad as hell" over the Irish banking crisis,{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0521/mcaleese.html|title=McAleese: Irish 'mad as hell' over bank crisis|date=21 May 2010|access-date=21 May 2010|work=RTÉ News|archive-date=16 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100616104817/http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0521/mcaleese.html|url-status=live}} and opened the An Gorta Mór (Great Famine) exhibition with a speech promising that Ireland's foreign policy focussed on global hunger.{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0522/mcaleese.html|title=President opens famine exhibition in NY|date=22 May 2010|access-date=22 May 2010|work=RTÉ News|archive-date=25 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525012543/http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0522/mcaleese.html|url-status=live}} She was also present at St. Patrick's Cathedral for a Famine mass and went to the Battery Park City's Irish Hunger Memorial to see the official New York commemoration of the 19th-century Irish Famine. On 22 May 2010, she delivered the keynote address at Fordham University's 165th Commencement.{{Cite web |date=2010-05-26 |title=Commencement Address: Mary McAleese, President of Ireland |url=https://news.fordham.edu/uncategorized/commencement-address-mary-mcaleese-president-of-ireland/ |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=Fordham Now |language=en-US}}

She opened the Bloom Festival, Ireland's largest gardening show, on 3 June 2010, acknowledging an improved interest in gardening in Ireland, particularly among younger people.{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0604/bloom.html|title=60,000 expected to visit Bloom Festival|date=4 June 2010|work=RTÉ News|access-date=4 June 2010|archive-date=7 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100607153231/http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0604/bloom.html|url-status=live}} On 13 June 2010, McAleese began an official visit to China. She met with Vice President of China Xi Jinping and the pair spoke for 35 minutes over lunch.{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0613/china.html|title=Mary McAleese on visit to China|date=13 June 2010|work=RTÉ News|access-date=13 June 2010|archive-date=15 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615002359/http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0613/china.html|url-status=live}}

File:Barack Obama and Mary McAleese 2011.jpg Barack Obama at Áras an Uachtaráin on 23 May 2011]]

She made an official visit to Russia, with Minister of State, Billy Kelleher, for four days in September 2010, and met with President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev.{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0903/mcaleesem.html|title=Trade on agenda for President's Russia trip|date=3 September 2010|work=RTÉ News|access-date=3 September 2010|archive-date=4 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100904134259/http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0903/mcaleesem.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0907/mcaleese.html|title=President McAleese begins Russian visit|date=7 September 2010|work=RTÉ News|access-date=7 September 2010|archive-date=8 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100908164812/http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0907/mcaleese.html|url-status=live}} She spoke kindly of Mikhail Gorbachev, officially invited Medvedev to Ireland, and addressed students at a university in Saint Petersburg. She called for warmer relations between the European Union and Russia.{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0908/mcaleese.html|title=McAleese pays tribute to Gorbachev|date=8 September 2010|work=RTÉ News|access-date=8 September 2010|archive-date=10 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100910180229/http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0908/mcaleese.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0909/mcaleese.html|title=President invites Medvedev to Ireland|date=9 September 2010|work=RTÉ News|access-date=9 September 2010|archive-date=10 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100910180255/http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0909/mcaleese.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0910/russia_mcaleese.html|title=More regulation needed, says McAleese|date=10 September 2010|work=RTÉ News|access-date=10 September 2010|archive-date=12 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100912233541/http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0910/russia_mcaleese.html|url-status=live}} On her state tour to Russia, highlighting the importance of competence, she launched an unprecedented attack on the Central Bank of Ireland, for their role in the financial crisis which resulted in tens of thousands of people in mortgage arrears.{{cite news|url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/irish-president-mary-mcaleesersquos-astonishing-attack-over-irish-slump-14946185.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120721092053/http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/irish-president-mary-mcaleesersquos-astonishing-attack-over-irish-slump-14946185.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 July 2012 |title=Irish President Mary McAleese's astonishing attack over slump |newspaper=Belfast Telegraph|date=11 September 2010 }}{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/mcaleese-hails-milestone-medvedev-talks-2335255.html|title=McAleese hails 'milestone' Medvedev talks|work=Irish Independent|date=13 September 2010|first=Paul|last=Melia|access-date=27 September 2010|archive-date=25 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025012834/http://www.independent.ie/national-news/mcaleese-hails-milestone-medvedev-talks-2335255.html|url-status=live}}

The President turned down an invitation to be Grand Marshal at the 250th St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York City planned for 2011. The parade organisers refused to allow gay people to march under their banner, and there was media speculation that this was the reason for the refusal. A spokesperson for the President's office stated that, while honoured by the invitation, she could not attend because of "scheduling constraints".{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/mcaleese-turns-down-role-in-ny-st-patricks-parade-2349478.html|title=McAleese turns down role in NY St Patrick's parade|last=Black|first=Fergus|date=23 September 2010|work=Irish Independent|access-date=23 September 2010|archive-date=24 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100924105908/http://www.independent.ie/national-news/mcaleese-turns-down-role-in-ny-st-patricks-parade-2349478.html|url-status=live}}

In March 2011, President McAleese invited Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom to make a state visit to Ireland. The Queen accepted, and the visit took place from 17 to 20 May 2011, the first state visit by a British monarch since Ireland had gained independence.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12650584|work=BBC News|title=Queen to make first state visit to Irish Republic|date=4 March 2011|access-date=20 June 2018|archive-date=6 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106032515/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12650584|url-status=live}} McAleese had been eager to have the Queen visit Ireland, and the event was widely welcomed as a historic success.{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/queen-visit/queens-historic-visit-hailed-as-a-massive-success-2653749.html|title=Queen's historic visit hailed as a massive success|work=Irish Independent|date=21 May 2011|first1=Ralph|last1=Riegel|first2=Lise|last2=Hand|first3=Tom|last3=Brady|access-date=3 June 2011|archive-date=25 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525221800/http://www.independent.ie/national-news/queen-visit/queens-historic-visit-hailed-as-a-massive-success-2653749.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/queen-elizabeth-II/8524575/The-Queen-in-Ireland-visit-hailed-a-great-success.html|title=The Queen in Ireland: visit hailed a 'great success'|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=19 May 2011|location=London|access-date=2 April 2018|archive-date=5 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305080157/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/queen-elizabeth-II/8524575/The-Queen-in-Ireland-visit-hailed-a-great-success.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0520/breaking3.html|title=Queen leaves Ireland after historic four-day State visit|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=20 May 2011|first=Eoin|last=Burke-Kennedy|access-date=3 June 2011|archive-date=23 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110523003212/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0520/breaking3.html|url-status=live}}

In past media interviews, prior to the Queen's visit, President McAleese had stated on several occasions that the highlight of her presidency to date was the opening ceremony of the 2003 Special Olympics World Games, which she describes as "a time when Ireland was at its superb best".{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/her-bridges-built-mcaleese-reflects-on-a-decade-in-office-1210372.html|title=Her bridges built, McAleese reflects on a decade in office|work=Irish Independent|date=3 November 2007|first=Fiona|last=Bradyand|access-date=3 June 2011|archive-date=2 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102174648/http://www.independent.ie/national-news/her-bridges-built-mcaleese-reflects-on-a-decade-in-office-1210372.html|url-status=live}} While opening the National Ploughing Championships in County Kildare in September 2011, she spoke of her sadness that she would soon no longer be president, saying: "I'm going to miss it terribly ... I'll miss the people and the engagement with them".{{cite news|url=http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/mcaleese-ill-miss-the-people-aspect-of-presidency-521281.html|title=McAleese: I'll miss the people aspect of Presidency|work=Irish Examiner|date=20 September 2011|access-date=16 October 2011|archive-date=24 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524082315/http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/mcaleese-ill-miss-the-people-aspect-of-presidency-521281.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://www.newstalk.ie/2011/news/6mcaleese-admits-she-will-be-sad-at-end-of-term75/|title=McAleese admits she will be sad at end of term|work=Newstalk|date=20 September 2011}}

Mary McAleese made her final overseas visit as head of state to Lebanon in October 2011, the location of her very first official overseas visit in 1997.{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/1016/mcaleesem.html|title=Mary McAleese concludes final overseas tour|work=RTÉ News|date=16 October 2011|access-date=16 October 2011|archive-date=17 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111017051454/http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/1016/mcaleesem.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/last-official-trip-abroad-for-mary-mcaleese-523880.html|title=Last official trip abroad for Mary McAleese|work=Irish Examiner|date=11 October 2011|access-date=16 October 2011|archive-date=24 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524094450/http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/last-official-trip-abroad-for-mary-mcaleese-523880.html|url-status=live}} While there she met with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman.{{cite news|url=http://www.thejournal.ie/mcaleese-to-meet-irish-troops-in-lebanon-on-final-official-trip-254479-Oct2011/|title=McAleese to meet Irish troops in Lebanon on final official trip|work=TheJournal.ie|date=15 October 2011|access-date=16 October 2011|archive-date=17 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111017171818/http://www.thejournal.ie/mcaleese-to-meet-irish-troops-in-lebanon-on-final-official-trip-254479-Oct2011/|url-status=live}} Before her trip to Lebanon she visited Derry, on one of her last official engagements to Northern Ireland, becoming the inaugural speaker at the first Conversations Across Walls and Borders event in First Derry Presbyterian Church.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-15195650|title=Irish President Mary McAleese to visit Londonderry|work=BBC News|date=6 October 2011|access-date=20 June 2018|archive-date=10 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181110150035/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-15195650|url-status=live}} She voluntarily donated more than 60 gifts given to her over the 14 years, and worth about €100,000, to the Irish state.{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/1026/mcaleesem.html|title=President McAleese to donate gifts to State|work=RTÉ News|date=26 October 2011|access-date=26 October 2011|archive-date=27 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027090943/http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/1026/mcaleesem.html|url-status=live}}

McAleese left office on 10 November 2011; she was succeeded by Michael D. Higgins, who had been elected in the presidential election held on 27 October 2011.{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/presidential-election/its-official-michael-d-higgins-is-elected-as-irelands-next-president-with-over-1m-votes-2920924.html|title=It's official: Michael D Higgins is elected as Ireland's next president with over 1m votes|work=Irish Independent|date=29 October 2011|access-date=29 October 2011|archive-date=31 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111031091653/http://www.independent.ie/national-news/presidential-election/its-official-michael-d-higgins-is-elected-as-irelands-next-president-with-over-1m-votes-2920924.html|url-status=live}}

On 10 November 2011, her last day in office, she thanked Ireland for her two terms in an article in The Irish Times.{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/1110/1224307310313.html|title=My personal thanks to Ireland|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=10 November 2011|access-date=10 November 2011|archive-date=10 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111110150622/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/1110/1224307310313.html|url-status=live}} She performed her last official public engagement at a hostel for homeless men in Dublin in the morning and spent the afternoon moving out of Áras an Uachtaráin.{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/1109/308502-president/|title=Mary McAleese 'loved every day' as President|work=RTÉ News|access-date=10 November 2011|date=10 November 2011|archive-date=12 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512213434/http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/1109/308502-president/|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Council of State (Ireland)}}

{{div col}}

First term

• Gordon Brett
• Brian Crowley
• Ruth Curtis
• Christina Carney Flynn
• Stanislaus Kennedy
• Martin Naughton
• Noel Stewart

Second term

• Harvey Bicker
• Anastasia Crickley
• Mary Davis
• Martin Mansergh
• Enda Marren
• Denis Moloney
• Daráine Mulvihill

{{div col end}}

In May 2012, the Irish Times reported that she had voluntarily returned more than €500,000 in unused Presidential Allowance funds, accrued over the 14 years of her term of office as well as gifting the overwhelming majority of the gifts received during her term to the state and Gaisce.[http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2012/0503/1224315513730.html "McAleese returns more than €500,000 in allowances"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504193042/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2012/0503/1224315513730.html |date=4 May 2012 }} 3 May 2012, The Irish Times

Mary McAleese along with her husband Martin were awarded the Tipperary Peace Prize in January 2012.[http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0101/breaking13.html "McAleeses to receive peace honour"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120101215645/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0101/breaking13.html |date=1 January 2012 }} 1 January 2012, Irish Times

In 2018, McAleese was awarded a doctorate in canon law (JCD) from Pontifical Gregorian University.{{Cite web | url=https://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/how-dr-mcaleese-laid-down-canon-law-to-her-detractors-in-vatican-37368503.html | title=How Dr McAleese laid down canon law to her detractors in Vatican | date=30 September 2018 | access-date=22 November 2019 | archive-date=6 August 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806053300/https://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/how-dr-mcaleese-laid-down-canon-law-to-her-detractors-in-vatican-37368503.html | url-status=live }} She had previously said that she obtained a master's degree and licentiate in canon law and her interest grew because of her concern about what has been happening in the Church – the sexual abuse scandal, among other things. When McAleese looked at the scandal, she said "I was struck by what investigators said about canon law and canon lawyers. It was a scathing indictment: In not one single incidence of sexual abuse had canon law been able to do anything on the victim's side, nothing useful or helpful."{{Cite web|url=http://www.bc.edu/publications/chronicle/FeaturesNewsTopstories/2013/top-stories/q-a--mary-mcaleese.html|title=Interview with Mary McAleese two-term president of Ireland|website=bc.edu|access-date=15 March 2018|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304120308/http://www.bc.edu/publications/chronicle/FeaturesNewsTopstories/2013/top-stories/q-a--mary-mcaleese.html|url-status=live}}

In 2012, McAleese was announced as the Chair of the European Commission High Level Group on the Modernisation of Higher Education in the European Union.{{Cite news | url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/mcaleese-to-chair-eu-education-group-1.533241?mode=sample&auth-failed=1&pw-origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fmcaleese-to-chair-eu-education-group-1.533241 | title=McAleese to chair EU education group | newspaper=The Irish Times | access-date=23 November 2019 | archive-date=18 August 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818212611/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/mcaleese-to-chair-eu-education-group-1.533241?mode=sample&auth-failed=1&pw-origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fmcaleese-to-chair-eu-education-group-1.533241 | url-status=live }} Her work on the Commission earned her the Universitas21 2016 Gilbert Award.{{Cite web | url=https://universitas21.com/get-involved/u21-awards/gilbert-medal-award/professor-mary-mcaleese-winner-2016-gilbert-medal | title=Professor Mary McAleese – winner of the 2016 Gilbert Medal | Universitas 21 | access-date=23 November 2019 | archive-date=3 August 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803184018/https://universitas21.com/get-involved/u21-awards/gilbert-medal-award/professor-mary-mcaleese-winner-2016-gilbert-medal | url-status=live }}

In 2013, McAleese was appointed Chair of the Von Hugel Institute at the University of Cambridge.{{Cite web|url = https://www.vhi.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/directory/mcaleese|title = Mary McAleese – von Hügel Institute|date = 25 January 2014|access-date = 23 November 2019|archive-date = 3 August 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200803165341/https://www.vhi.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/directory/mcaleese|url-status = live}}

In March 2013, McAleese was named as the Burns Scholar at Boston College, USA.{{Cite web|url = https://www.irishcentral.com/news/irelands-former-president-mary-mcaleese-named-burns-scholar-at-boston-college-198788881-237572651|title = Ireland's former president Mary McAleese named Burns Scholar at Boston College|date = 18 March 2013|access-date = 22 November 2019|archive-date = 3 August 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200803195130/https://www.irishcentral.com/news/irelands-former-president-mary-mcaleese-named-burns-scholar-at-boston-college-198788881-237572651|url-status = live}} In 2014, McAleese was appointed Distinguished Professor in Irish Studies at St Mary's University, Twickenham{{Cite web | url=https://www.stmarys.ac.uk/news/2014/12/dr-mary-mcaleese-appointed-distinguished-professor-st-marys | title=Dr Mary McAleese Appointed Distinguished Professor at St Mary | access-date=22 November 2019 | archive-date=3 August 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803183332/https://www.stmarys.ac.uk/news/2014/12/dr-mary-mcaleese-appointed-distinguished-professor-st-marys | url-status=live }} In 2015, McAleese was visiting fellow at the University of Notre Dame, USA.{{Cite web | url=https://irishstudies.nd.edu/faculty/visiting-faculty-fellows/mary-mcaleese/ | title=Mary McAleese // Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies // University of Notre Dame | access-date=22 November 2019 | archive-date=3 August 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803184335/https://irishstudies.nd.edu/faculty/visiting-faculty-fellows/mary-mcaleese/ | url-status=live }} In 2018 McAleese was awarded a doctorate in Canon Law at the Pontifical Gregorian University.

In October 2017, McAleese was appointed a Canon of the Church of Ireland's Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin and is a regular homilist at services there.{{Cite news | url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/mary-mcaleese-installed-as-lay-canon-at-christ-church-cathedral-1.3240376?mode=sample&auth-failed=1&pw-origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fsocial-affairs%2Freligion-and-beliefs%2Fmary-mcaleese-installed-as-lay-canon-at-christ-church-cathedral-1.3240376 | title=Mary McAleese installed as lay canon at Christ Church Cathedral | newspaper=The Irish Times | access-date=23 November 2019 | archive-date=1 January 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200101214443/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/mary-mcaleese-installed-as-lay-canon-at-christ-church-cathedral-1.3240376?mode=sample&auth-failed=1&pw-origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fsocial-affairs%2Freligion-and-beliefs%2Fmary-mcaleese-installed-as-lay-canon-at-christ-church-cathedral-1.3240376 | url-status=live }}

On 1 October 2018, McAleese was appointed Professor of Children, Law and Religion at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, a joint appointment between the university's College of Arts and College of Social Sciences.{{cite web |last1=Allardyce |first1=Aine |title=University of Glasgow – University news – Former Irish President joins University of Glasgow |url=https://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_614575_en.html |website=gla.ac.uk |publisher=University of Glasgow Communications and Public Affairs Office |access-date=1 October 2018 |ref=89 |language=en}}

On 1 November 2019, McAleese was elected as Chancellor of Trinity College Dublin.{{Cite web|url = https://www.tcd.ie/news_events/articles/trinity-appoints-dr-mary-mcaleese-as-chancellor-of-the-university-of-dublin/|title = Professor Mary McAleese to become Chancellor of the University of Dublin|date = November 2019|access-date = 22 November 2019|archive-date = 6 November 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191106212809/https://www.tcd.ie/news_events/articles/trinity-appoints-dr-mary-mcaleese-as-chancellor-of-the-university-of-dublin/|url-status = live}}

McAleese is an executive fellow of the Notre Dame School of Global Affairs and Chair of the Institute for Global Religions.

In 2024, McAleese joined forces with broadcaster Mary Kennedy to host the "Changing Times - The Allenwood Conversations" podcast. The podcast is produced by Enda Grace at Dundara Television and Media in Allenwood, County Kildare.{{cn|date=February 2025}}

McAleese is an alumna of the Pontifical Gregorian University where she obtained her licentiate of canon law in 2014 and a doctorate of canon law in 2018. On 22 September 2018, McAleese publicly defended her thesis on "Children's Rights and Obligations in Canon Law" at the Pontifical Gregorian University. The defence was conducted in Italian. McAleese was questioned by Professor Robert J Geisinger S.J. and Professor Ulrich Rhode S.J. The Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, the Rector of the Pontifical Irish College in Rome and the Irish Ambassadors to Italy and the Holy See attended the defence.{{Cite web |url=http://wearechurchireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/IMWAC-Experts-2014.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127164432/http://wearechurchireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/IMWAC-Experts-2014.pdf |archive-date=27 November 2019 |title=IMWAC Experts 2014 |publisher=We Are Church Ireland |access-date=25 June 2021}} McAleese also holds a Masters in Canon Law (2010) from the Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy. McAleese delivered the Valedictorian Address at her graduation.{{Cite web| url=https://www.jesuit.ie/news/valedictorian/| title=President's fond farewell| date=9 November 2010| access-date=27 November 2019| archive-date=27 November 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127164553/https://www.jesuit.ie/news/valedictorian/| url-status=live}}

In 2012, McAleese published Quo Vadis? Collegiality in the Code of Canon Law (Columba Press).{{Cite web| url=https://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2012/-quo-vadis-former-irish-president-looks-at-collegiality-governance-cns-1204275.cfm| title='Quo Vadis': Former Irish president looks at collegiality, governance| date=25 March 2020| access-date=27 November 2019| archive-date=27 November 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127164353/https://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2012/-quo-vadis-former-irish-president-looks-at-collegiality-governance-cns-1204275.cfm| url-status=dead}} The book was launched in Rome at the Irish Franciscan College of St. Isidore's{{Cite web | url=https://www.franciscans.ie/mary-mcaleese-launches-book-in-franciscan-college/ | title=Mary McAleese Launches Book | access-date=27 November 2019 | archive-date=27 November 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127164512/https://www.franciscans.ie/mary-mcaleese-launches-book-in-franciscan-college/ | url-status=live }} and in Dublin at the Redemptorists Centre at Marianella by the Former Chief Justice of Ireland, Ronan Keane{{Cite web | url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/mary-mcaleese-hits-out-at-culture-of-silence-behind-church-abuse-28821941.html | title=Mary McAleese hits out at culture of silence behind church abuse | date=22 October 2012 | access-date=27 November 2019 | archive-date=27 November 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127164558/https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/mary-mcaleese-hits-out-at-culture-of-silence-behind-church-abuse-28821941.html | url-status=live }}

In 2019, McAleese published Children's Rights & Obligations in Canon Law: The Christening Contracts (Brill Publishers).{{Cite web| url=https://www.marymcaleese.com/the-christening-contract| title=The Christening Contract| date=22 November 2019| access-date=27 November 2019| archive-date=27 November 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127164352/https://www.marymcaleese.com/the-christening-contract| url-status=live}}

In March 2018, McAleese asked "If you are going to exclude women in perpetuity from priesthood and if all decision-making, discernment and policy-making in the Church is going to continue to be filtered through the male priesthood, tell me how in justice and charity, but most importantly in equality, are you going to include the voices of women in the formation of the Catholic faith? What radical, innovative, strategic ideas do you have for their inclusion while being excluded from priesthood? And that's the question they have not answered".{{Cite web | url=https://www.thejournal.ie/mary-mcaleese-catholic-church-3891496-Mar2018/ | title=Mary McAleese says it's 'pure codology' that women can't become priests | date=8 March 2018 | access-date=27 November 2019 | archive-date=27 November 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127164459/https://www.thejournal.ie/mary-mcaleese-catholic-church-3891496-Mar2018/ | url-status=live }}

On the ordination of women, McAleese said "I believe that women should be ordained, I believe the theology on which that is based is pure codology. I'm not even going to be bothered arguing it. Sooner or later it'll fall apart, fall asunder under its own dead weight."

On International's Women Day, McAleese described the Catholic Church as "an empire of misogyny". She said "This regrettable situation arises because the Catholic Church has long since been a primary global carrier of the toxic virus of misogyny...Its leadership has never sought a cure for that virus although the cure is freely available. Its name is equality."{{Cite web|url = https://www.irishcentral.com/news/politics/mary-mcaleese-catholic-church-misogyny-sexism|title = Former Irish president Mary McAleese brands Catholic Church "empire of misogyny"|date = 9 March 2018|access-date = 22 November 2019|archive-date = 23 November 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191123092751/https://www.irishcentral.com/news/politics/mary-mcaleese-catholic-church-misogyny-sexism|url-status = live}}

In response to her speech, the Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said "Her challenge to the internal culture of the Church today was brutally stark. Some may find it unpleasant or unwelcome. I must accept the challenge with the humility of one who recognises her alienation."{{Cite news | url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/diarmuid-martin-accepts-mcaleese-criticisms-of-restrictions-on-women-1.3420980?mode=sample&auth-failed=1&pw-origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fsocial-affairs%2Freligion-and-beliefs%2Fdiarmuid-martin-accepts-mcaleese-criticisms-of-restrictions-on-women-1.3420980 | title=Diarmuid Martin accepts McAleese criticisms of restrictions on women | newspaper=The Irish Times | access-date=22 November 2019 | archive-date=28 August 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200828120654/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/diarmuid-martin-accepts-mcaleese-criticisms-of-restrictions-on-women-1.3420980?mode=sample&auth-failed=1&pw-origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fsocial-affairs%2Freligion-and-beliefs%2Fdiarmuid-martin-accepts-mcaleese-criticisms-of-restrictions-on-women-1.3420980 | url-status=live }}

McAleese was due to speak on a panel at a Voices of Faith conference in the Vatican on International Women's Day in 2018 on Women in the Church. The conference had been held for the previous four years at the Vatican.{{Cite web|url = https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/vatican-rejects-three-women-speakers-voices-faith-conference|title = Vatican rejects three women speakers from Voices of Faith conference|date = 2 February 2018|access-date = 22 November 2019|archive-date = 23 November 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191123092754/https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/vatican-rejects-three-women-speakers-voices-faith-conference|url-status = live}} Irish born Cardinal Kevin Farrell and Prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life banned McAleese from speaking in the Vatican. The organisers had not been given any reason for the decision.{{Cite journal| url=https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2018/0202/937865-mcaleese-vatican-conference/| title=Vatican blocks McAleese from speaking at conference| journal=RTÉ News| date=2 February 2018| access-date=3 February 2018| archive-date=4 February 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180204000028/https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2018/0202/937865-mcaleese-vatican-conference/| url-status=live}} In response, conference organisers invited McAleese to deliver the keynote speech at the conference and relocated it to a Jesuit conference centre just outside the Vatican.{{Cite news|url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43330026|title = Catholic Church 'an empire of misogyny'|work = BBC News|date = 8 March 2018|access-date = 20 June 2018|archive-date = 8 March 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180308134941/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43330026|url-status = live}}

McAleese initiated a canonical complaint against Kevin Farrell. The complaint was made to the Cardinal's superior – Pope Francis. The Nuncio to Ireland Jude Thaddeus Okolo personally collected the complaint from McAleese's home and delivered it to the Vatican.{{Cite web | url=https://www.rte.ie/radio/radioplayer/html5/#/radio1/21415854 | title=RTÉ Radio Player | website=RTÉ.ie | access-date=27 November 2019 | archive-date=26 May 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190526100301/https://www.rte.ie/radio/utils/radioplayer/rteradioweb.html#/radio1/21415854 | url-status=live }} According to McAleese, she was advised that there was a process for handling such complaints. In November 2019 she said that she had received neither an acknowledgement nor a reply to her complaint.{{Cite web | url=https://www.thejournal.ie/mcaleese-canonical-complaint-pope-4188566-Aug2018/ | title=Mary McAleese: 'World Meeting of Families is essentially a right wing rally' | date=18 August 2018 | access-date=27 November 2019 | archive-date=27 November 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127164432/https://www.thejournal.ie/mcaleese-canonical-complaint-pope-4188566-Aug2018/ | url-status=live }}

Speaking before the opening of the Ordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family in October 2015, McAleese ridiculed the concept of 300 elderly celibates coming together to discuss family questions. Addressing a meeting of the Global Network of Rainbow (LGBT) Catholics on the eve of the Vatican's Synod on the Family, former president McAleese said: "In the days when I was president, we had workshops on various issues and if I wanted to look at an issue, I would consult the experts... But look at the Synod, I have to ask the question: If I wanted expertise on the family, I honestly cannot say that the first thing that would come into my mind would be to call together 300 celibate males who, as far we know, have never raised a child...Let me repeat a question I asked last year when I saw the Vatican's lengthy pre-Synod questionnaire, namely how many of these men have ever changed a child's nappy? For me that is a very important question because it is one thing to say that we all grew up in families, we had mothers, we had fathers but it is a very different thing to raise a gay child, a very different thing to live daily in a relationship and to police the relationships between children and the world." Acknowledging that the Synod will doubtless be considering the Catholic Church's pastoral approach to homosexuals, McAleese described herself as "cynical" about the outcome of the forthcoming three-week consultation.{{Cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/mcaleese-church-stance-on-homosexuality-simply-wrong-1.2378042|title=McAleese: Church stance on homosexuality simply wrong|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=15 March 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=1 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001214302/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/mcaleese-church-stance-on-homosexuality-simply-wrong-1.2378042|url-status=live}}

On 18 August 2018, McAleese speaking in the aftermath of the US Grand Jury Report on children abused by Catholic Priests in Pennsylvania said the cover up of this abuse "is not only systemic, it was directed from central command and control which is the Vatican ... It strikes me as impossible to believe that all bishops acted equally negligently by coincidence, that's the problem."{{Cite web | url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/mary-mcaleese-slams-world-meeting-of-families-as-right-wing-rally-to-fight-against-lgbt-and-womens-rights-37228707.html | title=Mary McAleese slams World Meeting of Families as 'right wing rally' to fight against LGBT and women's rights | date=18 August 2018 | access-date=22 November 2019 | archive-date=22 November 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191122215122/https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/mary-mcaleese-slams-world-meeting-of-families-as-right-wing-rally-to-fight-against-lgbt-and-womens-rights-37228707.html | url-status=live }}

McAleese said in relation to the World Meeting of Families (held in Dublin in 2018), "It's always been essentially a right-wing rally... and it was designed for that purpose, to rally people to get them motivated to fight against the tide of same-sex marriage, rights for gays, abortion rights, contraceptive rights".

On 23 August 2019, McAleese was announced as the winner of the Alfons Auer Ethics Award, from Tübingen University in Germany for her political dedication in building bridges across divisions in society, especially in the conflict in Northern Ireland, her commitment to reforming the Catholic Church after the sexual abuse scandals, her theological and ethical advocacy for the rights of children, for the complete equality of women in church ministries and for the acceptance of diversity.{{Cite web | url=https://uni-tuebingen.de/fakultaeten/katholisch-theologische-fakultaet/fakultaet/auer-preis/die-preistraeger/2019-mary-mcaleese/ | title=2019: Mary McAleese | Universität Tübingen | access-date=23 November 2019 | archive-date=1 October 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001075832/https://uni-tuebingen.de/fakultaeten/katholisch-theologische-fakultaet/fakultaet/auer-preis/die-preistraeger/2019-mary-mcaleese/ | url-status=live }}{{Cite web | url=https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/11995/mary-mcaleese-wins-prestigious-catholic-theology-award- | title=Mary McAleese wins prestigious Catholic theology award | access-date=22 November 2019 | archive-date=30 January 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200130175029/https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/11995/mary-mcaleese-wins-prestigious-catholic-theology-award- | url-status=live }}

On 5 November 2019, McAleese delivered the annual Edmund Burke lecture at Trinity College Dublin. McAleese's lecture was entitled "The Future of Ireland: Human Rights and Children's Rights". In her address McAleese called for "a clear acknowledgement from the Catholic Church that the canon laws which constrict children's rights have now been overtaken by the (UN) Convention and our Constitution"{{Cite news | url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/mary-mcaleese-brexit-has-produced-an-enraged-not-engaged-society-1.4073595 | title=Mary McAleese: Brexit has produced an 'enraged, not engaged society' | newspaper=The Irish Times | access-date=22 November 2019 | archive-date=6 November 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191106205946/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/mary-mcaleese-brexit-has-produced-an-enraged-not-engaged-society-1.4073595 | url-status=live }}

McAleese has written to Pope Francis threatening to quit the Catholic Church if it comes to light the Vatican "failed to act to protect members of the L'Arche community" from the organization's founder Jean Vanier. He founded L'Arche in 1964 to work with intellectually disabled people. On 22 February 2020, L'Arche announced that it had received credible complaints that Vanier had sexually abused at least six women.{{Cite web|url = https://cruxnow.com/church-in-uk-and-ireland/2020/03/former-irish-president-threatens-to-quit-catholic-church-over-vanier-revelations/|title = Former Irish president threatens to quit Catholic Church over Vanier revelations|date = 5 March 2020|access-date = 14 March 2020|archive-date = 14 March 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200314115628/https://cruxnow.com/church-in-uk-and-ireland/2020/03/former-irish-president-threatens-to-quit-catholic-church-over-vanier-revelations/|url-status = live}}

McAleese strongly promoted closer ties between Ireland and the People's Republic of China,{{Cite news|url = https://www.irishtimes.com/news/mcaleese-hails-closeness-of-china-and-ireland-1.678847|title = McAleese hails closeness of China and Ireland| newspaper=The Irish Times |date = 5 March 2020|access-date = 21 September 2022}} meeting frequently with officials from that country's ruling Chinese Communist Party, including Xi Jinping and former President Hu Jintao.{{Cite web|url = https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-30116592.html#!|title = McAleese meets Chinese president today|date = 9 October 2003|access-date = 21 September 2022}} As President of Trinity College, McAleese refused to allow the board to bestow an honorary degree upon the Dalai Lama, noting the Chinese student presence at the university and stating that "honouring the Tibetan monk would undoubtedly cause "serious" problems and consequences with the Chinese ambassador, and added that the Chinese would interpret the award as looking for trouble, as China regarded him as a religious-political leader.".{{Cite web|url = https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/trinity-college-pulled-dalai-lama-honour-after-mary-mcaleese-raised-china-fears-41997509.html|title = Trinity College pulled Dalai Lama honour after Mary McAleese raised China fears|date = 18 September 2012|access-date = 21 September 2022}} According to the Sunday Independent, Chinese universities "provided the fourth highest amount of non-EU collaborations with Trinity over the previous 10 years, with 581 co-publications."

In 1975, McAleese and David Norris founded the Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform. McAleese was its legal advisor from 1975 until 1979 when she joined RTÉ as a current affairs journalist.

In a 2008 biography, McAleese explained that she first became aware of the plight of gay people as a student in San Francisco in the early 1970s. She was 21 and studying law at Queen's University Belfast. Her job involved preparing food for airlines; a supervisor, "a charming, lovely man", told her he was gay. They had become friends. He was wounded by being rejected by his family. She recalled, "at school or university I was never aware of ever meeting a gay person, such were the taboos at the time. As a heterosexual, I had wondered what it must be like for those who are outside the mainstream, the self-discovery, when you can reveal it to no one." That man was her introduction to the reality. "When I came back to Ireland I made it my business to do something about it," she said.{{Cite news | url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/mary-mcaleese-a-long-time-advocate-for-gay-people-1.1651114 | title=Mary McAleese: A long-time advocate for gay people | newspaper=The Irish Times | access-date=27 November 2019 | archive-date=14 August 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814200111/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/mary-mcaleese-a-long-time-advocate-for-gay-people-1.1651114 | url-status=live }}

In 2008, McAleese addressed a gay youth forum in Galway and encouraged people to confront those who make anti-gay remarks. McAleese said that being gay was "not a choice but a discovery".{{Cite news | url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/confront-those-who-make-anti-gay-remarks-president-tells-youth-forum-1.903278 |title = Confront those who make anti-gay remarks, President tells youth forum| newspaper=The Irish Times }}

In 2010, McAleese addressed the LGBT Diversity National Conference in Dublin. She said "The toxic attitudes which were heard in homes, streets, workplaces even in schools and churches caused untold suffering and nothing is surer than the fact that those attitudes can have and will have no place in the Ireland we are building, for they belong in the same toxic waste dump along with sexism, racism, sectarianism and all those other contrary forces which would diminish the innate dignity, freedom and nature of the human person, reduce their life chances and opportunities and consign them to half-lived lives.{{Cite web | url=https://www.president.ie/en/media-library/speeches/remarks-by-president-mcaleese-at-the-lgbt-diversitys-national-conference-fo | title=Media Library | Speeches | President of Ireland}}

In 2011, McAleese declined an invitation to be the New York City St Patrick's Day parade Grand Marshall. LGBT people were banned from marching in the parade under LGBT banners.{{Cite web| url=https://www.irishcentral.com/news/mcaleese-declines-nyc-grand-marshal-invite-103514544-237717601| title=President Mary McAleese declines St. Patrick's Day NYC Grand Marshal invite| date=22 September 2010| access-date=27 November 2019| archive-date=13 December 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191213131011/https://www.irishcentral.com/news/mcaleese-declines-nyc-grand-marshal-invite-103514544-237717601| url-status=live}}

In a radio interview discussing her book Quo Vadis? Collegiality in the Code of Canon Law on 28 September 2012, said she was concerned at the growing number of young men, and in particular young gay men, who take their own lives in Ireland. She said that when the research is broken down, it shows that young gay men are one of the most risk-prone groups in Ireland. McAleese said many of these young men will have gone to Catholic schools and they will have heard there their church's attitude to homosexuality. "They will have heard words like 'disorder', they may even have heard the word 'evil' used in relation to homosexual practice," she said. She went on to say "And when they make the discovery, and it is a discovery and not a decision, when they make the discovery, that they are gay, when they are 14, 15 or 16, an internal conflict of absolutely appalling proportions opens up". She said many young gay men are driven into a place that is "dark and bleak". McAleese said she met the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Charles John Brown, shortly after Easter to raise with him her concern about the growing number of suicides among young men in Ireland.{{Cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0928/mary-mcaleese-catholic-church-homosexuality.html|title=McAleese critical of Catholic view on homosexuals|date=28 September 2012|work=RTÉ.ie|access-date=15 March 2018|language=en|archive-date=4 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104180102/http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0928/mary-mcaleese-catholic-church-homosexuality.html|url-status=live}}

In May 2015, in advance of the marriage equality referendum, McAleese described same-sex marriage as a "human rights issue" as she and her husband Martin called for a Yes vote in the upcoming referendum. In her first public comments on the issue, McAleese said the vote next month is "about Ireland's children, gay children" and said passing the referendum would help dismantle the "architecture of homophobia". She also highlighted the problems in Ireland of suicide among young males. "We now know from the evidence that one of the risk groups within that age cohort of 15–25 is the young male homosexual. We owe those children a huge debt as adults who have opportunities to make choices that impact their lives, to make the right choices, choices that will allow their lives to grow organically and give them the joy of being full citizens in their own country."{{Cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/mary-mcaleese-calls-for-yes-vote-in-marriage-referendum-1.2174316|title=Mary McAleese calls for Yes vote in marriage referendum|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=15 March 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=20 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180520035030/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/mary-mcaleese-calls-for-yes-vote-in-marriage-referendum-1.2174316|url-status=live}}

In June 2018, McAleese attended Dublin Pride for the first time along with her husband, son Justin and his husband Fionán Donohoe. This theme was 'We Are Family', and was a reference to Pope Francis' 2018 visit to Ireland for the Catholic World Meeting of Families. Speaking at the parade she said: "Homophobia is evil. It ruins people's lives, it has ruined families' lives, it has caused people to commit suicide, it has caused people to live in dark shadows, so unsure of themselves," she said.{{Cite news|url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44670362|title = McAleese and son march in Dublin Pride|work = BBC News|date = 30 June 2018|access-date = 22 November 2019|archive-date = 1 October 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201001220057/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44670362|url-status = live}}

In 2011, McAleese received the GALA Political Figure Award.{{Cite web | url=https://www.galas.ie/winners-2011?lightbox=dataItem-j66o2na4 | title=Winners 2011 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} In 2016, McAleese received the "Ally of the year" award from GALA's.{{Cite web|url = https://gcn.ie/33854/|title = The GALAs 2016: The Complete Winners List • GCN|date = March 2016|access-date = 27 November 2019|archive-date = 27 November 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191127181339/https://gcn.ie/33854/|url-status = live}}

In 2016, McAleese received The Northern Ireland Tolerantia Award for "her commitment to equal treatment and the dignity of LGB&T people for over four decades".{{Cite web | url=http://tolerantia-award.eu/en/the-award-winners-of-europeans-tolerantia-price-2006-2009/belfast-2016/ | title=Belfast 2016 – Tolerantia-Award | access-date=27 November 2019 | archive-date=30 September 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930012236/http://tolerantia-award.eu/en/the-award-winners-of-europeans-tolerantia-price-2006-2009/belfast-2016/ | url-status=live }}

In August 2018 McAleese was awarded the Vanguard Award at the GAZE LGBT Festival in Dublin.{{Cite journal|url = https://www.rte.ie/news/dublin/2018/0806/983471-mary-mcaleese-award/|title = Church's teachings on homosexuality 'evil' – McAleese|journal = RTÉ News|date = 6 August 2018|last1 = Connor|first1 = Dyane|access-date = 22 November 2019|archive-date = 9 November 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191109212233/https://www.rte.ie/news/dublin/2018/0806/983471-mary-mcaleese-award/|url-status = live}}

In June 2016, McAleese urged the British to vote to remain in the EU. McAleese warned that Britain's departure could result in the return of border controls on the island of Ireland and cause a "potential drift" in the peace process. McAleese said the "chances of customs controls being reconstituted are probably greater as they had been eliminated by EU laws, not Anglo-Irish efforts". McAleese challenged claims by Boris Johnson and Michael Gove who frequently repeated claims that the position on the island of Ireland would not change. McAleese said, "I don't know that to be (true) and they do not know that".{{Cite news|url = https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/09/mary-mcaleese-leave-vote-border-controls-eu-referendum|title = Mary McAleese: Leave vote could bring return of border controls|newspaper = The Guardian|date = 9 June 2016|last1 = O'Carroll|first1 = Lisa|last2 = McDonald|first2 = Henry|access-date = 27 November 2019|archive-date = 8 January 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200108142154/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/09/mary-mcaleese-leave-vote-border-controls-eu-referendum|url-status = live}}

In 2017, McAleese described Brexit as like "pulling a tooth with 10,000 roots". She said that Northern Ireland will be the only part of the UK that will share a land border with an EU state post-Brexit and she feared that checks between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland would be an inevitable consequence of the UK leaving EU. McAleese said "the lawyer in me says our migration controls are very different, and they are going to be if Britain is no longer part of the EU, and if they tighten the migration controls it won't be enough that I'm entitled to use the Common Travel Area...how are they going to differentiate between me, the person who is entitled to plead the Common Travel Areas, and the person say from France or Germany or Poland who's going to cross the road at Newry, or Derry? My view is that sooner or later the pressure will come to make it an ID card phenomenon...I don't see, in the long run, how we'd get around that".{{Cite news|url = https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-41056371|title = Border checks are inevitable – McAleese|work = BBC News|date = 25 August 2017|access-date = 27 November 2019|archive-date = 10 April 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210410184838/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-41056371|url-status = live}}{{Cite web| url=https://www.donegaldaily.com/2017/08/27/brexit-varadkar-confident-of-no-passport-control-at-border-in-response-to-mcaleeses-fears/| title=Brexit: Varadkar "confident" of no passport control at border in| date=27 August 2017| access-date=27 November 2019| archive-date=3 August 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803233913/https://www.donegaldaily.com/2017/08/27/brexit-varadkar-confident-of-no-passport-control-at-border-in-response-to-mcaleeses-fears/| url-status=live}}Taoiseach Leo Varadkar responded to McAleese's concerns saying "I understand her concerns but it is one area that I am very sure about that's that there won't be a requirement to produce a passport to travel to Northern Ireland".

On 29 March 2019, McAleese addressed the Brexit Institute at DCU. She said "The process of Brexit has been like watching a political form of necrotising fasciitis as it has devoured time, effort, goodwill, patience, reputations, relationships, engendering huge volumes of work, of anxiety and again, no obvious end in sight. We know that it has rendered the word 'meaningful' completely meaningless." She said "I am heart sorry to see the UK go, to leave the EU, things will not be the same. The future experience will not be the one we envisaged. I harboured a hope that somehow, the United Kingdom would step back from the brink and recommit to the ideal of the European Union, in my view the greatest and the noblest political undertaking ever envisaged and realised in human history. That's a description that is unlikely to ever be attached to Brexit."{{Cite web|url = https://www.dcu.ie/news/news/2019/Mar/Mary-McAleese-addresses-DCU-Brexit-Institute.shtml|title = Mary McAleese addresses DCU Brexit Institute | DCU|date = 29 March 2019|access-date = 27 November 2019|archive-date = 17 November 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191117131956/https://www.dcu.ie/news/news/2019/Mar/Mary-McAleese-addresses-DCU-Brexit-Institute.shtml|url-status = live}}

• {{flagicon|France}} France: McAleese was awarded the Dignité de Grand Officier de l'Ordre National du MériteDignité de Grand Officier de l'Ordre National du Mérite – 2019

• {{flagicon|Ireland}} Kilkenny (third living person to be awarded, succeeding Brian Cody and Séamus Pattison.{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/cool-cat-mary-hopes-to-capture-kilkenny-magic-1744549.html|title=Cool Cat Mary hopes to capture Kilkenny magic|last=Kane|first=Conor|date=20 May 2009|access-date=21 December 2009|newspaper=Irish Independent|archive-date=5 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090605161214/http://www.independent.ie/national-news/cool-cat-mary-hopes-to-capture-kilkenny-magic-1744549.html|url-status=live}} The ceremony, at which she was presented with two hurleys, took place at Kilkenny Castle.) – 19 May 2009

• 60x60px Dame Grand Cross of the Two Sicilian Royal Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, Special Class{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

• {{flagicon|Ireland}} Member of the Royal Irish Academy{{Cite news|url=https://www.ria.ie/mary-mcaleese|title=Mary McAleese|date=19 October 2015|work=Royal Irish Academy|access-date=9 November 2018|language=en|archive-date=9 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181109153151/https://www.ria.ie/mary-mcaleese|url-status=live}} – 1998
• {{flagicon|China}} Honorary Degree from the Harbin Institute of Technology{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/why-is-dit-big-news-in-china-1.1003754|title=Why is DIT big news in China?|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=25 May 2020|archive-date=16 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516205141/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/why-is-dit-big-news-in-china-1.1003754|url-status=live}} – 2003
• {{flagicon|Ireland}} Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons{{Cite web|url=http://www.rcsi.ie/index.jsp?p=164&n=894&a=1165|title=0 – Royal College Surgeons in Ireland|website=rcsi.ie|date=29 September 2006 |access-date=9 November 2018|archive-date=9 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181109153242/http://www.rcsi.ie/index.jsp?p=164&n=894&a=1165|url-status=live}} – 2006
• {{flagicon|New Zealand}} Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Otago – 31 October 2007
• {{flagicon|USA}} Honorary Doctorate of Law from the Mount Holyoke College – 24 May 2009
• {{flagicon|USA}} Honorary Doctorate of Law from the Fordham University – 22 May 2010
• {{flagicon|UK}} Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.{{Cite news|url=https://www.rse.org.uk/fellow/mary-mcaleese/|title=Professor Mary Patricia McAleese HonFRSE, HonFLSW – The Royal Society of Edinburgh|work=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|access-date=26 June 2018|language=en-GB|archive-date=26 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626201039/https://www.rse.org.uk/fellow/mary-mcaleese/|url-status=live}} – 2012
• {{flagicon|USA}} Honorary doctorate at UMass Lowell – 8 November 2013
• {{flagicon|UK}} Honorary Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales{{Cite news|url=https://www.learnedsociety.wales/fellow/mary-mcaleese/|title=Mary McAleese {{!}} The Learned Society of Wales|work=The Learned Society of Wales|access-date=9 November 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=9 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181109195240/https://www.learnedsociety.wales/fellow/mary-mcaleese/|url-status=live}} – 2017
• {{flagicon|UK}} Honorary Member of the Society of Legal Scholars

• {{flagicon|USA}} The Silver World Award of the Boy Scouts of America - March 1998
• {{flagicon|USA}} The American Ireland Fund Humanitarian Award – 3 May 2007
• {{flagicon|USA}} Blessed are the Peacemakers Award from Catholic Theological Union – 17 April 2013
• {{flagicon|Germany}} Alfons Auer Ethics Award-2019{{Cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/prestigious-catholic-theology-award-to-be-presented-to-mary-mcaleese-1.3994464 |title=Prestigious Catholic theology award to be presented to Mary McAleese, Irish Times. 22 August 2019 |newspaper=The Irish Times |access-date=23 August 2019 |archive-date=22 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190822221404/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/prestigious-catholic-theology-award-to-be-presented-to-mary-mcaleese-1.3994464 |url-status=live }}

On 8 June 2013, a ceremony was held to rename a bridge on the M1 motorway near Drogheda as the Mary McAleese Boyne Valley Bridge to honour McAleese's contribution to the Northern Ireland peace process.{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0608/455430-mcaleese-bridge/|title=Drogheda cable bridge named after Mary McAleese|work=RTÉ News|date=9 June 2013|access-date=10 June 2013|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001518/http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0608/455430-mcaleese-bridge/|url-status=live}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• Love in Chaos: Spiritual Growth and the Search for Peace in Northern Ireland by Mary McAleese. Foreword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. New York : Continuum, 1999. {{ISBN|0-8264-1137-1}}.
• President Mary McAleese: Building Bridges – Selected Speeches and Statements. Foreword by Seamus Heaney. Dublin : The History Press, 2011. {{ISBN|1-84588-724-7}}.
• Quo Vadis? Collegiality in the Code of Canon Law, by Mary McAleese, Dublin, Columba Press, 2012. {{ISBN|978-1856077866}}
• 5 Years to Save the Irish Church: Talks from the National Columba Books Conference, by Mary McAleese, Mark Patrick Hedderman, Brian D'Arcy, Stan Kennedy, Joe McDonald, Columba, 2018. {{ISBN|978-1-78218-351-8}}
• Children's Rights and Obligations in Canon Law, The Christening Contract by Mary McAleese, Brill, 2019. {{ISBN|978-90-04-41117-3}}
• Here's the Story, A Memoir, by Mary McAleese, Penguin, 2020. {{ISBN|9781844884704}}

• Mary McAleese-The Outsider: An Unauthorised Biography, Justine McCarthy, Dublin, Blackwater Press, 1999
• Máire Mhic Ghiolla Íosa: Beathaisnéis, Ray Mac Mánais. Irish Language Biography. Later translated as The Road From Ardoyne: The Making of a President, Ray Mac Mánais, Dingle, Brandon, 2004
• First citizen: Mary McAleese and the Irish Presidency, Patsy McGarry, Dublin, O'Brien Press, 2008
• "Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese" in Women of Power – Half a century of female presidents and prime ministers worldwide, Torild Skard, Bristol: Policy Press, 2014, {{ISBN|978-1-44731-578-0}}

{{commons}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071029143819/http://151.1.143.193/index.php?lnk=750&id=325 Rome Reports TV interview]
• [http://www.president.ie/en/the-president/mary-mcaleese/ Biography at Áras an Uachtaráin website]
• [http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/religion/sundaysequence/archive-interviews.shtml BBC Extended interview with Mary McAleese (audio) (interview of 2/3/2003)]
• [http://www.irlfunds.org/aif/new_york/events_31.asp AIF Humanitarian Award speech] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612111946/http://www.irlfunds.org/aif/new_york/events_31.asp |date=12 June 2010 }}
• [http://www.mtholyoke.edu/news/channels/27/stories/5681394 2009 Commencement speech] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012105315/http://www.mtholyoke.edu/news/channels/27/stories/5681394 |date=12 October 2012 }} – Mount Holyoke College

{{s-start}}

{{s-off}}

{{s-bef|before = Mary Robinson}}

{{s-ttl|title = President of Ireland

|years = 1997–2011}}

{{s-aft|after = {{nowrap|Michael D. Higgins}}}}

{{s-aca}}

{{s-bef|before = Mary Robinson}}

{{s-ttl|title = {{nowrap|Chancellor of the University of Dublin}}

|years = 2019–present}}

{{s-inc}}

{{s-end}}

{{Presidents of Ireland}}

{{Fianna Fáil}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:McAleese, Mary}}

Category:1951 births

Category:Living people

Category:Presidents of Ireland

Category:Politicians from Belfast

Category:Spouses of Irish politicians

Category:Fianna Fáil candidates in Dáil elections

Category:Irish legal scholars

Category:Barristers from Northern Ireland

Category:Members of the Bar of Northern Ireland

Category:RTÉ newsreaders and journalists

Category:Irish women radio presenters

Category:Irish women journalists

Category:Irish LGBTQ rights activists

Category:LGBTQ rights activists from Northern Ireland

Category:Alumni of Queen's University Belfast

Category:Academics of Trinity College Dublin

Category:Academics of Queen's University Belfast

Category:Women lawyers from Northern Ireland

Category:20th-century lawyers from Northern Ireland

Category:Women legal scholars

Category:Women presidents in Europe

Category:Recipients of the Collar of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana

Category:20th-century Irish women politicians

Category:20th-century women presidents

Category:21st-century Irish politicians

Category:21st-century Irish women politicians

Category:Roman Catholics from Northern Ireland

Category:People educated at St Dominic's Grammar School for Girls

Category:Female heads of state

Category:Lawyers from Belfast

Category:Broadcasters from Belfast

Category:21st-century lawyers from Northern Ireland

Category:21st-century women lawyers from Northern Ireland

Category:20th-century women lawyers from Northern Ireland

Category:21st-century British women lawyers

Category:20th-century presidents in Europe

Category:21st-century women presidents