Nollaig na mBan 2021 Women’s Leadership Celebration
ABOUT OUR HONOREES
Global Leader & Seventh President of Ireland, Mary Robinson
The first woman elected as President of Ireland (1990-1997), Mary Robinson has been credited with transforming the role with a presidency of inclusiveness, equality and peace building, and with creating an important dialogue at home and overseas about Ireland and the Irish Diaspora.
She also served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997 to 2002). As a barrister advocating human rights and women’s equality in the Irish and European Courts, an academic and as a member of the Irish Senate representing the University of Dublin (Trinity College) constituency from 1969-1989, Mary Robinson’s work played a pivotal role in shaping modern Ireland.
The Elders is a group of global leaders brought together by Nelson Mandela and Richard Branson. Mary Robinson is a founding member, joined by Desmond Tutu (South Africa), Jimmy Carter (United States), Kofi Annan (Ghana), Nelson Mandela (South Africa), and Ela Bhatt (India) amongst others. The Elders use their independence, collective experience and influence for peace, justice and human rights worldwide.
Mary’s work with the United Nations, Oxfam International, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, the GAVI Alliance, The Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice, and others, advocates good governance, a voice for the vulnerable in our world.
Samantha Barry, Editor-In-Chief, Glamour
Samantha Barry serves as Editor-in-Chief for Glamour. The path from Cork to New York has been a global one for Barry, who, after stints in RTÉ and Newstalk, traveled the world working for ABC Australia and the U.S. State Department training young journalists. Most recently, she worked at BBC World News in London. Barry is also currently a Sulzberger Fellow at Colombia University and a guest-lecturer at Yale.
Barry led news coverage from the 2016 presidential election and interviewed all the candidates. Led by Barry, the CNN coverage of received the first ever Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in social media and a Webby Award recognizing the same 2016 campaign work. Barry has also worked as a guest lecturer at Yale University and is a Sulzberger Fellow at Columbia University.
Barry earned a degree in English and psychology from University College Cork and a master’s in journalism from Dublin City University. Her Cork roots are strong – her father’s family is from Bantry and her mother is from Bere Island. She cites her heritage as what spurred her toward her many achievements, saying, “I am extremely proud of coming from a long line of Irish people who leave, seek opportunities abroad, and are fearless travelers.”
Permanent Representative of Ireland to the United Nations, Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason
Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason is the Permanent Representative of Ireland to the United Nations. Ambassador Byrne Nason is a career diplomat who has served in Brussels, New York, Paris, Vienna and Helsinki during her career.
Her career began in 1981 when she posted to the UN in New York as a junior diplomat. While Byrne Nason began her career at the UN, subsequently much of her service has been focused on Europe where she served as ambassador to the EU from 2007-2011. Later she spent eight years at the Organization of Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) in Paris, before returning to Dublin. She subsequently served as Ireland’s Permanent Representative to the European Union in Brussels. In 2011, she became second secretary general in the Department of the Taoiseach, where she was the highest ranking female public servant in Ireland. She also headed Ireland’s National Forum on Europe and more recently was responsible for EU affairs.
In 2013 Byrne Nason was named in the Irish media one of Ireland’s most powerful women. From 2014-2017, she served as the Ambassador to France and Monaco before a return to the UN. During her tenure at the UN, Byrne Nason has chaired the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women, highlighting the role women played in Northern Ireland peace-building, one that could be copied by women in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, and elsewhere.
In 2014, she was elected a Member of the Royal Irish Academy, Ireland’s highest academic honor. Originally from Drogheda, Byrne Nason is proud of her roots, displaying a framed photograph of suffragettes marching through the town in the late 1890s presented to her by a Co. Louth group visiting during St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in New York.
Caitríona Perry, Anchor and broadcast journalist
Caitríona Perry is a multi- award-winning Irish journalist. She’s worked as a broadcast news correspondent since 2000 and is currently the co-anchor of the main television evening news program on Ireland’s national public service broadcaster, RTÉ. The SixOne News is broadcast Monday to Friday from 6.01pm to 7pm and is the most watched news show in Ireland.
Previously Caitríona was the station’s Washington Correspondent & Bureau Chief (2013-Dec 2017) where she worked across television, radio and digital platforms reporting on politics and all sorts of US-related news. She has significant editorial experience and has previously worked as a news anchor, presenter, documentary maker, producer, and program editor. She has won awards for her television and radio reportage, including a National Justice Media Award and a PPI Award. She has an Undergraduate Degree in Journalism (2002) and a Masters Degree in International Relations (2010), both awarded by Dublin City University, which recently named her as one of the University’s distinguished alumni.
Caitríona has just published her second book ‘The Tribe: The Inside Story on Irish Power and Influence in US Politics’ (Gill Books Oct 2019) which examines who the power players in Irish American politics are and just how influential they are. It also looks at what will happen the Irish-America relationship after Brexit. Her first book, ‘In America: Tales from Trump Country’ was published by Gill Books on October 27th 2017. It debuted at number three in the Irish bestsellers charts and was shortlisted for Best Irish Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2017.
Caitríona was recently named the Irish Tatler Media Woman of the Year 2017, and an Image Woman of the Year 2018. She was listed as Ireland’s most influential female journalist on Twitter in 2018.