The road from Ardoyne : the making of a president / Ray Mac Mánais

Includes bibliographical references and index

Ray Mac Manais traces the life of Mary McAleese from her girlhood in Ardoyne to the threshold of the presidency. Her story is a chronicle of triumphs and tragedies, of self-belief and tenacity. It is both an adventure story and a love story; it is also a tale of grit and determination on the part of the man who would become her husband. In writing this book the author has had the cooperation of the president and members of her family, and has had access to many of her personal papers. She graduated in Law from the Queen's University of Belfast and in 1975 became the youngest ever Reid Professor of Law at Trinity College Dublin. She was the first Catholic Director of the Institute of Professional Legal Studies, and she became the first female Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the Queen's University of Belfast. She worked as a current affairs journalist and presenter in radio and television with Radio Telefis Elreann (RTE) during the controversial days of the 1980 and 1981 hunger strikes, and was a Director of Channel 4 Television. On 11 November 1997 she became the first president to come from Northern Ireland