Ailbhe Smyth was the founding head of Women's and Gender Studies at University College Dublin and is a long-time feminist, LGBTQI+ and socialist activist. She was centrally involved in the Marriage Equality referendum in 2015, co-founded the Coalition to Repeal the 8th Amendment and was co-director of the Together for Yes abortion referendum campaign in 2018. Currently, she is Chair of Women’s Aid and also of Ballyfermot STAR Addiction services. She is a director of Age Action and of the Women’s Global Health Network Ireland, and is Patron of the Women’s Collective Ireland (WCI). Ailbhe is a founding member of Le Cheile: Diversity not Division Ireland for All.

Ailbhe was included in Time Magazine’s ‘The world’s 100 most influential people’ list in 2019, and has been awarded the Freedom of the City of Dublin. She was conferred with an honorary doctorate in laws by Galway University.