A former solicitor who graduated from UCD in 1981 with a BA in Economics and History, Aideen has worked in the field of housing for the last three decades. Best known as chair of the national housing charity Threshold, she was a Taoiseach nominee to the Seanad in 2011, in recognition of her exemplary work and advocacy on housing and social justice issues. During her time in office as a Senator, Aideen worked closely with the then Minister for the Environment on legislation to introduce a deposit protection scheme to protect tenants’ deposits in the private rented sector and to limit the extent of rent increases at a time of significant rent rises in rented housing nationally.