Maria Steen Explained

Maria Steen
Birth Name:Maria Davin
Birth Place:Ireland
Nationality:Irish
Spouse:Neil Steen
Occupation:Architect, Barrister
Known For:Anti-abortion campaigning
Alma Mater:King's Inns, University College Dublin

Maria Steen (née Davin) is an Irish conservative campaigner. A qualified architect and barrister, she is a member of the Iona Institute. She campaigned against referendums on same-sex marriage and abortion in Ireland in the mid-to-late 2010s and opposed the referendums on Family and Care in 2024.

Personal life

The daughter of prominent Dublin estate agent Seán Davin, she is a niece of politician Joan Freeman—a former senator who contested the 2018 Irish presidential election—as well as barrister and television presenter Theresa Lowe.[1] [2] She graduated in 1999 with a degree in architecture from University College Dublin and worked as an architect with a leading firm for a number of years. She has been married to Neil Steen, a senior counsel, since May 2006.[3] They have five children, who are home-schooled.[4] She is a qualified barrister, but has not practiced since the birth of her children. She is a qualified AMI Montessori teacher.[5] She has written for The Irish Catholic.[6]

Anti-abortion campaigning

She opposed the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013, legislation proposed after the judgment of the ECHR in A, B and C v Ireland (2010). In line with the judgment of the Supreme Court of Ireland in the X Case (1992), this permitted abortion where there was a risk to a woman's life from suicide; Steen claimed this was "wrong and unnecessary".[7]

She represented the Iona Institute at the Citizen's Assembly, which was discussing Irish abortion law.[8] [9] She campaigned for a No vote in the 2018 Irish abortion referendum, which was approved by the Irish electorate. She often participates in TV debates.[10] [11] [12] The proposal was approved in the referendum by a 66% majority on a turnout of 64%.[13]

Involvement in same-sex marriage referendum

In the run up to the 2015 Irish same-sex marriage referendum, she was one of the members of the Iona Institute who threatened legal action against RTÉ over claims from Rory O'Neill that the Iona Institute were homophobic, and received part of the €85,000 settlement ("Pantigate").[14] [15]

She participated in TV debates in the run-up to the referendum.[16] The amendment was approved in the referendum by 62% of voters on a turnout of 61%.[17]

2024 constitutional referendums on family and care

In 2024, Steen campaigned against two proposed amendments to the Constitution of Ireland: the Thirty-ninth Amendment on the Family, which proposed to extend the constitutional definition of family to "other durable relationships" in addition to marriage, and the Fortieth Amendment, on Care, which proposed to remove references to women's "life within the home" and mothers' "duties in the home", and to add a new article on care within the family. In the lead-up to the referendums, Steen was part of a group of barristers, Lawyers for No, to voice concern about the potential unintended consequences of these proposed changes, along with Senator Michael McDowell, Michael McNamara TD and Brenda Power.[18] Steen appeared in a Television debate on RTE on the referendums, with Tánaiste Micheal Martin.[19] Both proposed amendments were comprehensively rejected, respectively by 67.7 and 73.9 percent of voters.[20]

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Catholic support for Joan Freeman tackling the presidency. The Times. 8 July 2018. Justine. McCarthy. 1 August 2018. 24 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180724183551/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/ireland/catholic-support-for-joan-freeman-tackling-the-presidency-78vt525d9. live.
  2. Web site: 2024-03-15 . PressReader.
  3. News: Family announcements . 2024-03-15 . The Irish Times.
  4. News: John Waters, Panti and me - Brendan O'Connor returns. My kids ended up playing with their kids and Sarah got talking to them and it emerged that they had home schooled their kids. We ended up in the bar one night and I said to the wife, "I heard you've home schooled the kids." And she turned to me - and it was like something from a Tennessee Williams play - and said: "I believe I have you at a disadvantage. I'm Maria Steen [of The Iona Institute].. 29 September 2014. Donal. Lynch. 23 May 2018. 24 May 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180524004234/https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/television/john-waters-panti-and-me-brendan-oconnor-returns-30614935.html. live.
  5. Web site: Maria Steen's guide to home-schooling your children. Steen. Maria. The Irish Times. 23 March 2020.
  6. Web site: Maria Steen, Author at The Irish Catholic. 29 April 2021. The Irish Catholic. 23 May 2018. 6 August 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200806072007/https://www.irishcatholic.com/author/maria/. live.
  7. News: The Irish Times. 18 December 2018. Groups respond to abortion decision. Ciara. Kenny. Spokeswoman for the religious advocacy group the Iona Institute Maria Steen said it would be “wrong and unnecessary” to allow abortion in cases where there is deemed to be suicidal intent. “Irish law already allows the ending of a pregnancy when there is no other choice and there is a clear threat to the life of the mother,” she said.. 23 May 2018. 24 May 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180524003702/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/groups-respond-to-abortion-decision-1.755410. live.
  8. Advocacy Groups and Representative Organisations: Session 4 - Citizens' Assembly (March 5 2017). Citizens' Assembly. 5 March 2018. 23 May 2018. 28 May 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180528133700/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36I0LYiBRVs. live.
  9. Web site: Fourth Meeting of the Citizens' Assembly on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. Citizen's Assembly. The Iona Institute will be represented by Maria Steen.. 23 May 2018. 24 May 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180524004347/https://www.citizensassembly.ie/en/Meetings/Fourth-Meeting-of-the-Citizens-Assembly-on-the-Eighth-Amendment-of-the-Constitution.html. live.
  10. News: Maria Steen will take part in TV3 debate having previously pulled out. The Irish Times. 23 May 2018. Bardon. Sarah. 23 May 2018. 24 May 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180524003659/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/maria-steen-will-take-part-in-tv3-debate-having-previously-pulled-out-1.3505341. live.
  11. 8th Amendment Debate. Prime Time. 21 January 2018. RTÉ One. 23 May 2018. 24 May 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180524004116/https://www.rte.ie/news/player/2018/0119/21303861-8th-amendment-debate/. live. Web site: Maria Steen debates the abortion issue on Prime Time. 22 January 2018. Iona Institute. 23 May 2018. 24 May 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180524004524/https://ionainstitute.ie/maria-steen-debates-the-abortion-issue-on-prime-time/. live.
  12. Referendum Special. Claire Byrne Live. RTÉ One. 15 May 2018. 23 May 2018. 24 May 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180524004237/https://www.rte.ie/news/player/claire-byrne-live-web/2018/0515/. live. Web site: Maria Steen discusses the abortion referendum on Claire Byrne Live. 17 May 2018. Iona Institute. 23 May 2018. 24 May 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180524004019/https://ionainstitute.ie/maria-steen-discusses-the-abortion-referendum-on-rtes-claire-byrne-live/. live.
  13. Web site: Referendum on the Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2018 – regulation of termination of pregnancy . Referendum Returning Officer . 3 March 2024 .
  14. News: Irish Independent. 2 February 2014. RTE paid out €85,000 in 'homophobe' row. The remaining Iona Institute members who threatened legal action against RTE were Dr Patricia Casey, the well-known psychiatrist; Dr John Murray and Ms Maria Steen.. Willie. Kealy. Niamh. Horan. 23 May 2018. 24 May 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180524004241/https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/rte-paid-out-85000-in-homophobe-row-29971734.html. live.
  15. News: Same-sex marriage panto descends into farce. Michael. Clifford. 8 February 2014. Irish Examiner. 3 March 2024. 13 December 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231213191147/https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/arid-20258118.html. live.
  16. Web site: Iona Speakers Take Part In Marriage Referendum Debates. Maria Steen appeared on RTÉ’s final TV debate of the campaign on Prime Time, hosted by Miriam O'Callaghan.. Iona Institute. 29 May 2015. 23 May 2018. 24 May 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180524004523/https://ionainstitute.ie/iona-speakers-take-part-in-marriage-referendum-debates/. live.
  17. Web site: Referendum on the Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015 . Referendum Returning Officer . 3 March 2024 .
  18. News: Carolan . Mary . 2024-02-29 . Lawyers group urges No vote in family and care referendums . 2024-03-10 . . en.
  19. Web site: Campaigner, Tánaiste clash during debate on referendums. Fletcher. Laura. RTÉ. 6 March 2024.
  20. News: Bray . Jennifer . 9 March 2024 . Family and care referendums comprehensively defeated . 10 March 2024 . . en . 10 March 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240310004711/https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2024/03/09/family-and-care-referendums-comprehensively-defeated/ . live .

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Maria Steen".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.