Liz McManus (born 23 March 1947) is a former Irish Labour Party politician who served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 2002 to 2007 and Minister of State at the Department of the Environment from 1994 to 1997. She served as a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...

(TD) for the

Wicklow Wicklow ( ; ga, Cill Mhantáin , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; non, Víkingaló) is the county town of County Wicklow in Ireland. It is located south of Dublin on the east coast of the island. According to the 2016 census, it has ...

constituency from 1992 to 2011.

Early life and writing career

McManus was born in 1947 in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. She studied

Architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

, where she shared a drawing desk with

Ruairi Quinn Ruairi Quinn (born 2 April 1946) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Education and Skills from 2011 to 2014, Leader of the Labour Party from 1997 to 2002, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1989 to 1997, ...

. McManus is an accomplished writer. She has won the Hennessy, Listowel and

Irish PEN award Irish PEN Award for Literature is an annual literary award presented by Irish PEN since 1999. Its intent is to honour an Irish-born writer who has made an outstanding contribution to Irish literature. The award is for a significant body of work an ...

s in fiction. Her first novel ''Acts of Subversion'' was nominated for the

Aer Lingus Aer Lingus ( ; an anglicisation of the Irish , meaning "air fleet" compare Welsh 'llynges awyr') is the flag carrier of Ireland. Founded by the Irish Government, it was privatised between 2006 and 2015 and it is now a wholly owned subsidiary ...

/''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' Literature Prize. McManus was also a weekly columnist with the ''

Sunday Tribune The ''Sunday Tribune'' was an Irish Sunday broadsheet newspaper published by Tribune Newspapers plc. It was edited in its final years by Nóirín Hegarty, who changed both the tone and the physical format of the newspaper from broadsheet to tab ...

'' from 1986 until 1992.

Political career

She first ran for political office in 1979, when she was elected to

Bray Town Council Bray ( ) is a coastal town in north County Wicklow, Ireland. It is situated about south of Dublin city centre on the east coast. It has a population of 32,600 making it the ninth largest urban area within Ireland (at the 2016 census). Bray is ...

for Sinn Féin the Workers' Party. Later she was elected to

Wicklow County Council Wicklow County Council ( ga, Comhairle Chontae Chill Mhantáin) is the authority responsible for Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local government in County Wicklow, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed ...

. She helped establish a women's refuge in Bray in 1978 and was its convenor until 1991. McManus was first elected to

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland read ...

at the 1992 general election, as a member of Democratic Left. She retained her seat in every subsequent election until her retirement in 2011. In 1994, Democratic Left formed a government with

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

and the Labour Party, and McManus was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, with responsibility for Housing and Urban Renewal, serving until the coalition lost office in 1997. During this period she was also a member of the Northern Ireland Forum for Peace and Reconciliation. In 1999, Democratic Left merged with the Labour Party, and in 2002 McManus was elected deputy leader of the Labour Party. Another former Democratic Left TD,

Pat Rabbitte Pat Rabbitte (born 18 May 1949) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources from 2011 to 2014, Leader of the Labour Party from 2002 to 2007 and a Minister of State from 199 ...

, became leader of the party. She also became the Labour Party Spokesperson on Health. She was the deputy leader of the Labour Party and party Spokesperson on

Health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

from 2002 to 2007. Following the resignation of

on 23 August 2007, she was acting leader of the Labour Party until September 2007, but chose not to stand for re-election as deputy leader, when a deputy leadership election was held.

Joan Burton Joan Burton (born 1 February 1949) is a former Irish Labour Party politician who served as Tánaiste and Leader of the Labour Party from 2014 to 2016, Minister for Social Protection from 2011 to 2016, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 2 ...

replaced her as deputy leader. She was party Spokesperson on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources from 2007 to 2011. She retired from politics at the 2011 general election.

Private life

She was formerly married to John McManus; the couple had four children. They publicly separated in 2006. John McManus, a physician in general practice, was a Labour member of Bray Town Council from 1999 to 2009. By February 2015 McManus had been with her new partner, Sean, also active in the Labour Party, for ten years.

References

External links

Liz McManus' official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McManus, Liz 1947 births Living people Alumni of University College Dublin Communist women writers Democratic Left (Ireland) TDs Irish novelists Irish women novelists Labour Party (Ireland) TDs Local councillors in County Wicklow Members of the 27th Dáil Members of the 28th Dáil Members of the 29th Dáil Members of the 30th Dáil 20th-century women Teachtaí Dála 21st-century women Teachtaí Dála Ministers of State of the 27th Dáil Sunday Tribune people Workers' Party of Ireland politicians Women ministers of state of the Republic of Ireland