St Vincent de Paul to name first female president

A Co Wicklow woman today made history by becoming the first female national president of one of the country’s largest social justice groups.

In the 160 years since its formation, the St Vincent De Paul (SVP) Society in Ireland has never elected a women to the role, until now.

Home Economics teacher Mairead Bushnell has served as Cork Regional President for the last four years and has been with SVP since 1986.

“A long-time community activist and woman of quiet determination, Mairead now assumes leadership of Ireland’s largest voluntary organisation of social concern and action,” an SVP spokesman said.

“SVP has over 9,200 volunteers in 1,000 Conferences (branches) on the island of Ireland and last year spent over 41 million euro fighting poverty and disadvantage with a wide range of community services.”

Originally from Co Wicklow, Ms Bushnell has taught in schools in Dublin and Cork.

As well as being a mother to four children, she is a past president of Roscrea ICA, past chairperson of the Board of Management of St. Mary’s School, Rochestown, Cork, and a founder member of Douglas Gymnastics club.

Her contribution to the training and upskilling of SVP members was recognised in 1998 with her appointment to SVP’s National Training Team.

Elected Cork Regional President in 2003, she was also appointed chair of SVP’s National Trainers Working Group and a member of the Society’s first Three Year Plan team.