Heather for President is surging in Fine Gael circles, but who is the Monaghan ex-minister?

The Journal

2 days ago

FINE GAEL HAS begun its contest to choose who will replace Mairead McGuinness as its candidate for the presidential election.
Ahead of nominations formally opening at midday today, two candidates had already thrown their hats in the ring.
First out of the traps was MEP Seán Kelly, who told RTÉ's Morning Ireland he would be 'honoured' to represent his party.
A short time later, former minister Heather Humphreys told her local Cavan-Monaghan radio station Northern Sound that she had 'decided to go for it'.
As it stands, Humphreys looks to be the favourite by a mile, with the public support of a significant number of Fine Gael TDs and senators already.
It is also understood that Humphreys is the preferred candidate of Fine Gael leader and Tánaiste Simon Harris.
So who is Heather Humphreys and why does she want to be President of Ireland?
Straight talker
Humphreys, who has been in politics since 2003, has served under four taoisigh: Enda Kenny, Leo Varadkar, Micheál Martin, and Simon Harris.
She is the longest-serving female Cabinet Minister in Fine Gael history.
Before her retirement, Humphreys served most recently as Minister for Social Protection and Rural Affairs and also had a short stint as deputy leader of Fine Gael following Simon Harris's appointment as leader in April 2024.
Humphreys and Harris were both elected to the Dáil in 2011 and were close confidants while in office.
Harris and Humphreys are known to have a close friendship.
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Rollingnews.ie
So much so that Humphreys was chosen to propose Harris in the Dáil when he was elected as Taoiseach last year.
Known for her straight talk and wit, Humphreys prompted laughs in the chamber when she said she thought 24-year-old Harris was 'a young lad walking around on a school tour' when she first met him in Leinster House.
Humphreys's time in government began with a rocky start when, as Minister for Arts, she was embroiled in a scandal over a
botched appointment
to the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA).
Humphreys gave a number of uneasy performances in media interviews at the time before admitting in a statement that she had been asked to appoint the candidate in question, John McNulty, a supermarket owner in Donegal, to the board at the request of Fine Gael officials.
Reflecting on that period in an
interview with the Irish Times
last year, Humphreys said the ordeal taught her an important lesson: 'Prepare. Prepare. Prepare. I never forgot it.'
Despite her rough start as a minister, Humphreys endured and became a reliable figure at the Cabinet table and a hugely popular one among the Fine Gael grassroots.
Her confidence in front of the media grew over the years.
In 2023 when she was
approached by two reporters
from The Ditch who were seeking comment on claims she did not seek planning permission for using two derelict residential properties she owns as office storage, she allegedly told them:
'Do you know what youse boys do? Fuck off and leave me alone.'
Humphreys in 2021
Alamy
Alamy
'Proud Ulsterwoman, Protestant and Irish republican'
Before entering the Dáil in 2011, Humphreys was the manager of the credit union in Cootehill, close to where she lived with her husband Eric and their two daughters.
From Drum in County Monaghan, Humphreys, a Presbyterian and daughter of an Orangeman, has previously described herself as 'a proud Ulsterwoman, a Protestant and an Irish republican' and has long spoken of the need for inclusion on the island.
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While Minister for Heritage, she was heckled on a number of occasions and criticised over her department's stance on the protection of buildings
linked to the Easter Rising
.
Her
proficiency in the Irish language
was called into question after she was appointed Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in 2014.
Asked a month into the role if she had started Irish lessons after she admitted she had lost the ability to speak the language fluently, Humphreys said:
'No I haven't started Irish lessons yet, but I do hope to get some squeezed in at some stage shortly. I can't give you a timescale because the schedule is very busy.'
She also faced criticism two years into the brief when she
refused to meet with Irish language organisations
such as Conradh na Gaeilge and Údarás na Gaeltachta.
Humphreys defended her decision, arguing that responsibility for such meetings fell to the minister of state in the Department, not her.
Around the same time, she also declined to be interviewed on the Irish-language radio station RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta (RnaG).
A spokesperson for the Minister said she declined the invitation because she cannot speak Irish, but despite the show clarifying that the interview could have been conducted in English, the Minister still declined to take part.
It was reported around the same time that she had visited the Gaeltacht for a week to improve her language skills.
Legacy
Reflecting on her Dáil career, Humphreys cites Hot School Meals as her legacy project while Minister for Social Protection, while the rollout of the auto-enrollment retirement savings system will also be seen as transformative —
if the government finally implements it.
During her time as Minister for Social Protection, Humphreys also scrapped proposals put forward by her own department to
reform disability payments
after campaigners labelled them as 'ableist'.
The reforms would have introduced a tiered system for Disability Allowance and would have linked the level of payments to a determination on capacity to work and the nature of the disability.
A month before she announced the decision not to proceed with the reforms, the government had received a resounding
defeat in the Care Referendum.
The proposed amendment, if passed, would have seen the deletion of reference to a woman's 'life within the home' and her 'duties in the home'.
However, disability campaigners argued that the replacement wording put forward by the government would have
classed disabled people as 'burdens' on their families and society.
Humphreys was also the minister in charge when the government decided to
double the fine a jobseeker receives if they do not engage with unemployment services
, a move that was heavily criticised by opposition TDs.
Elsewhere, while a minister, she was the person who proposed that XL bully dogs would be banned after a spate of attacks, a move that
animal behavioural experts took issue with.
'Back to my old self'
When she announced her retirement from the Dáil, the Cavan-Monaghan TD said it was because she was no longer able to give the job her all.
'Politicians are human too; we give all we can for as long as we can but time catches up on us all. As I get older, my health and energy levels are not what they were and I know going forward that I would not be able to give the job the time and commitment it deserves,' she said at the time.
Speaking today, the 65-year-old said she was feeling 'burnt out at the time' and that 'everything has changed.'
'I knew the tank was probably running on empty, so I've been enjoying life since I retired from the Dáil. The family are well, I'm well. I feel like I'm back to my old self,' Humphreys said.
'I've had a good rest. The tank is full again. And you know, timing is a funny thing, because I have never felt as good about taking on a challenge.'
Why does she want to be president?
Asked why she had decided to campaign for Fine Gael's presidential bid, Humphreys said that the role of president is a 'unifying force'.
'I want to focus on using the presidency to listen to people. I want to hear their story and where there is division, try and facilitate reconciliation and understanding,' Humphreys said.
'And I do want to deepen relationships between the people of this island, both north and south.'
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