Background
BANOTTI, Mary was born on May 29, 1939 in Dublin.
Member of the European Parliament
BANOTTI, Mary was born on May 29, 1939 in Dublin.
She is a sister of the former Cabinet Minister Nora Owen and a grand-niece of the Irish political leader and rebel Michael Collins. Following her education she worked as a nurse in North America, England, Italy and Africa before joining Irish Distillers as an occupational health nurse and Industrial Welfare Officer in 1972. Between 1980 and 1984 she presented a weekly programme on social welfare rights and information on RTÉ television
Banotti unsuccessfully contested the Seanad Éireann elections of 1983 and the Dublin Central by-election the same year.
Politics
She retained her seat until her retirement at the 2004 European elections. In 1999, She also was the United Nations Population Fund"s Goodwill Ambassador on reproductive health.
In 1984 she was elected to the European Parliament, representing Fine Gael in the Dublin constituency. She was Fine Gael"s candidate in the 1997 presidential election, coming second to Fianna Fáil"s Mary McAleese.
She is also currently the Honorary President of Health First Europe, and a member of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems" board.