Higgins, Alice-Mary

Born and raised in Galway, Alice-Mary Higgins has over two decades of experience in policy, strategy and advocacy across the areas of equality, international development and social inclusion.

In 2016 Alice-Mary was elected on the NUI panel for Seanad Éireann, the first woman in thirty five years to be elected to it.

An advocate for social and economic equality all her adult life, Alice-Mary keeps these principles to the fore in the Seanad and works to bring care, creativity and long-term thinking into the heart of political debate.

Alice-Mary leads the Civil Engagement Group in Seanad Éireann, a group of independent Senators with backgrounds in the NGO sector and civil society and is committed to bringing the voice of civil society into the Seanad chamber. She is a member of the Committee on Climate Action and Committee on Employment Affairs and Social Protection.

Alice-Mary graduated from UCD in 1996 with a degree in English and Philosophy. She holds an MPhil in Theatre and Cultural Studies (TCD) and is a Fullbright Scholar in the Humanities. In 2002 she graduated from the New School in New York with a Masters Degree in Sociology.

Prior to her Seanad election, Alice-Mary worked as policy coordinator at the National Women's Council of Ireland. Here her work focused on a range of gender equality issues – including the pension and pay gap, childcare and greater representation of women in all areas of national life.

In 2014 she was elected to the Executive of the European Women's Lobby in Brussels where she worked on the development of its new strategy and represented the group on socio-economic matters.

Whilst working at the Older and Bolder alliance Alice-Mary delivered a successful campaign to defend the State Pension and developed campaigns on homecare. At Trȯcaire Alice-Mary advocated on climate change, food security and peace-building. As coordinator of the Comhlámh anti-racism project, she combined legislative advocacy with creative work on diversity.

When Alice-Mary was elected in 2016, she promised to bring care, creativity and long-term thinking into the heart of political debate. That approach will be more important then ever in the next Seanad. Alice-Mary is ambitious for action on equality, environment and a rights-based approach to public services She has worked hard within the Seanad to make a difference in people’s lives, winning significant changes to the law in areas ranging from data protection to biodiversity.

The collaborative, sometimes unusual, approach taken by Alice-Mary and other members of the Civil Engagement Group has helped drive real progress on disability, domestic violence, decent work and human rights.

Alice-Mary has sponsored and co-sponsored ten Bills – including the Occupied Territories Bill and the Family Reunification Bill which have already passed all stages in the Seanad and currently await a ‘money message’. If re-elected to the Seanad, one of Alice-Mary’s priorities is to ensure that the progressive Bills introduced, including her recent Bill to put quality at the heart of public procurement, complete their journey into law.

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