Rónán Mullen

Who is Rónán Mullen?

Rónán Thomas Mullen is an independent Irish Senator and delegate to the Council of Europe. He was elected by the National University of Ireland Seanad constituency in July 2007 and re-elected for a second term in 2011. Mullen is a frequent media commentator on social and political topics. The first National University of Ireland senator appointed to the Council of Europe, he received international coverage for his role in defeating the controversial McCafferty Report which sought to limit the right to conscientious objection for medical staff in the case of abortions.

Mullen was born and educated in County Galway, in the west of Ireland, and studied French and English at National University of Ireland, Galway, where he was also president of the Students' Union. Then, in 1993, he moved to Dublin and studied for a Masters' degree in journalism, after which he worked as a teacher and press secretary. In 1999 he began training as a barrister in the King's Inns, during which he won the Irish Times Debate. He was called to the Bar in 2003. Since 2001 he has been a lecturer in the Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown.