Maria Steen

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Maria Steen
Born
Maria Davin

Ireland
NationalityIrish
Alma materKing's Inns, University College Dublin
Occupation(s)Architect, Barrister
Known forAnti-abortion campaigning
SpouseNeil Steen
Relatives

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[edit]

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.[5][6] She is a qualified AMI Montessori teacher.[7] She has written for The Irish Catholic.[8]

Anti-abortion campaigning[edit]

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".[9]

She represented the Iona Institute at the Citizen's Assembly, which was discussing Irish abortion law.[10][5] 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.[6][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[edit]

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 (a.k.a. "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[edit]

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[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ McCarthy, Justine (8 July 2018). "Catholic support for Joan Freeman tackling the presidency". The Times. Archived from the original on 24 July 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  2. ^ "PressReader.com - Digital Newspaper & Magazine Subscriptions". www.pressreader.com. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  3. ^ "Family announcements". The Irish Times. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  4. ^ Lynch, Donal (29 September 2014). "John Waters, Panti and me - Brendan O'Connor returns". Archived from the original on 24 May 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018. 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].
  5. ^ a b "Fourth Meeting of the Citizens' Assembly on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution". Citizen's Assembly. Archived from the original on 24 May 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018. The Iona Institute will be represented by Maria Steen.
  6. ^ a b Bardon, Sarah (23 May 2018). "Maria Steen will take part in TV3 debate having previously pulled out". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 24 May 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  7. ^ Steen, Maria (23 March 2020). "Maria Steen's guide to home-schooling your children". The Irish Times.
  8. ^ "Maria Steen, Author at The Irish Catholic". The Irish Catholic. 29 April 2021. Archived from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  9. ^ Kenny, Ciara (18 December 2018). "Groups respond to abortion decision". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 24 May 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018. 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.
  10. ^ Advocacy Groups and Representative Organisations: Session 4 - Citizens' Assembly (March 5 2017). Citizens' Assembly. 5 March 2018. Archived from the original on 28 May 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  11. ^ "8th Amendment Debate". Prime Time. 21 January 2018. RTÉ One. Archived from the original on 24 May 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018."Maria Steen debates the abortion issue on Prime Time". Iona Institute. 22 January 2018. Archived from the original on 24 May 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  12. ^ "Referendum Special". Claire Byrne Live. 15 May 2018. RTÉ One. Archived from the original on 24 May 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018."Maria Steen discusses the abortion referendum on Claire Byrne Live". Iona Institute. 17 May 2018. Archived from the original on 24 May 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  13. ^ "Referendum on the Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2018 – regulation of termination of pregnancy". Referendum Returning Officer. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  14. ^ Kealy, Willie; Horan, Niamh (2 February 2014). "RTE paid out €85,000 in 'homophobe' row". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 24 May 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018. 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.
  15. ^ Clifford, Michael (8 February 2014). "Same-sex marriage panto descends into farce". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 13 December 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  16. ^ "Iona Speakers Take Part In Marriage Referendum Debates". Iona Institute. 29 May 2015. Archived from the original on 24 May 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018. Maria Steen appeared on RTÉ's final TV debate of the campaign on Prime Time, hosted by Miriam O'Callaghan.
  17. ^ "Referendum on the Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015". Referendum Returning Officer. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  18. ^ Carolan, Mary (29 February 2024). "Lawyers group urges No vote in family and care referendums". The Irish Times. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  19. ^ Fletcher, Laura (6 March 2024). "Campaigner, Tánaiste clash during debate on referendums". RTÉ.
  20. ^ Bray, Jennifer (9 March 2024). "Family and care referendums comprehensively defeated". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 10 March 2024. Retrieved 10 March 2024.


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