By Cathal Coyle

The recent public announcement in Baltimore by Irish-American politician Martin O’Malley, that he is entering the presidential race, has added a new dimension for the contest to become the 45th President of the United States of America.

The 52-year-old is a member of the Democratic Party and served as the Governor of Maryland from 2007 to 2015. Prior to this, he served as the Mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007, having served as a Baltimore City Councillor for eight years after starting out as an assistant State’s Attorney for the city.

After two terms as Mayor, it was claimed that Baltimore’s crime rate was the lowest it had been in over three decades and investment at an all-time high. In two terms as the governor of Maryland, he ushered in a perceived liberal agenda that included gun control and an end to the death penalty.

O’Malley has championed education (Maryland has the number one ranking for best public schools in America), entrepreneurship, and environment – the creation of thousands of green energy sector jobs. On the flip side, some analysts have been critical of him being too pro-business and tough on unions. When he inherited a $1.7bn deficit as Governor, he pushed through $9.5bn in budget cuts.

Martin O’Malley was born on January 18th, 1963, one of six children, in Washington, D.C., to Barbara and Thomas O’Malley.  O’Malley’s father served in the U.S. Army Air Force during the Second World War and later became a criminal defence lawyer and an assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia.

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