Máire Geoghegan-Quinn (; born 5 September 1950) is an Irish former
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...
politician who served as
European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science
The Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation was a portfolio within the European Commission. In 2019, the portfolio was merged with the Commissioner for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture to form the role of European Commissioner for Inn ...
from 2010 to 2014, Member of the
European Court of Auditors from 2000 to 2010,
Minister for Equality and Law Reform from November 1994 to December 1994,
Minister for Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry.
Lists of current ministries of justice
Named "Ministry"
* Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia)
* Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan)
* Ministry of Justi ...
from 1993 to 1994,
Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications from 1992 to 1993,
Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach
The Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach is a junior ministerial post in the Department of the Taoiseach of the Government of Ireland who performs duties and functions delegated by the Taoiseach.
The position was first created ...
from 1987 to 1989,
Minister of State for Youth and Sport from March 1982 to December 1982,
Minister for the Gaeltacht from 1979 to 1981,
Minister of State at the Department of Industry, Commerce and Energy from 1978 to 1979 and
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry and Commerce from 1977 to 1978. 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 Parl ...
(TD) for the
Galway West constituency from 1975 to 1997.
Early and personal life
Máire Geoghegan was born in
Carna,
County Galway, in September 1950. She was educated at
Coláiste Muire,
Tourmakeady, in
County Mayo and at
Carysfort College in
Blackrock, Dublin
Blackrock () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, northwest of Dún Laoghaire.
Location and access
Blackrock covers a large but not precisely defined area, rising from sea level on the coast to at White's Cross on the N11 national primary road. ...
, from where she qualified as a teacher. She is married to John Quinn, with whom she has two children. Her novel ''The Green Diamond'', about four young women sharing a house in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
in the 1960s, was published in 1996.
Geoghegan-Quinn was awarded an honorary doctorate of Laws (LLD) by
NUI Galway in June 2014.
Political career
Her father,
Johnny Geoghegan, was a
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...
TD for Galway West from 1954 until his death in 1975. His daughter successfully contested the
subsequent by-election.
From 1977 to 1979, she worked as
Parliamentary Secretary (junior minister) at the
Department of Industry, Commerce and Energy. She served as a member of
Galway City Council
Galway City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach na Gaillimhe) is the authority responsible for local government in the city of Galway, Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for hou ...
from 1985 to 1991.
Geoghegan-Quinn supported
Charles Haughey in the
1979 Fianna Fáil leadership election
The 1979 Fianna Fáil leadership election began in December 1979, when Jack Lynch resigned as party leader and Taoiseach. Lynch had been party leader for thirteen years and Taoiseach for over nine years. His successor was elected by the members ...
and was subsequently appointed to the cabinet post of
Minister for the Gaeltacht. She became the first woman to hold an Irish cabinet post since
Countess Markievicz had served as
Minister for Labour from 1919 to 1921 in the
Dáil Ministry during the
First Dáil, and the first since the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922.
In 1982, she was appointed
Minister of State at the Department of Education. Her tenure was short because the
23rd Dáil
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (disambiguation)
* Third Avenue (disambiguation)
* Hi ...
lasted only 279 days, and a
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 É ...
–
Labour Party coalition was formed after the
November 1982 general election. In opposition, she became Chair of the first
Joint Committee on Women's Rights in 1983 and a member of the Joint Committee on Marriage Breakdown.
When Fianna Fáil returned to power after the
1987 general election, she became
Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach
The Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach is a junior ministerial post in the Department of the Taoiseach of the Government of Ireland who performs duties and functions delegated by the Taoiseach.
The position was first created ...
. She had expected a senior government position, and was disappointed. She resigned in 1991, in opposition to Charles Haughey's leadership of the party. The following year
Albert Reynolds
Albert Martin Reynolds (3 November 1932 – 21 August 2014) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1992 to 1994, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1992 to 1994, Minister for Finance from 1988 to 1991, Minister for Indust ...
, whom she now backed for the leadership, became
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the of ...
and Fianna Fáil leader. For her loyalty to Reynolds, she was appointed
Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications. She became
Minister for Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry.
Lists of current ministries of justice
Named "Ministry"
* Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia)
* Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan)
* Ministry of Justi ...
in 1993, in which post she introduced substantial law reform legislation, including the decriminalisation of homosexuality; she was also briefly acting
Minister for Equality and Law Reform in late 1994, following the resignation of Labour Party Minister
Mervyn Taylor from Reynolds' coalition government.
When Reynolds resigned as leader of Fianna Fáil in November 1994, Geoghegan-Quinn was seen as his preferred successor in the position. In the resulting
leadership election she stood against
Bertie Ahern
Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008, Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997, Tánaiste a ...
; a win would have made her the first female Taoiseach. On the day of the vote, however, she withdrew from the contest "in the interests of party unity". It was reported that she had the support of only 15 members of the 66-strong parliamentary party.
At the
1997 general election she retired from politics completely, citing privacy issues, after details about her 17-year-old son's expulsion from school appeared in the newspapers. "If his mother had been a homemaker, an architect or a businesswoman, this simply would not have happened" she commented. Other reports suggested that she saw her prospects for promotion under Ahern as poor, and a weak showing in constituency opinion polls indicated her seat could be in danger. She became a
non-executive director of
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 subsidiar ...
, a member of the board of the
Declan Ganley-owned Ganley Group, and wrote a column for ''
The 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 ...
''.
Geoghegan-Quinn was appointed to the
European Court of Auditors in 1999, replacing former Labour Party politician and Minister
Barry Desmond. She was appointed for a second term at the Court of Auditors in March 2006, and resigned on 9 February 2010.
She was nominated by the Taoiseach
Brian Cowen to become
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
's
European Commissioner in November 2009, and was subsequently allocated the
Research, Innovation and Science portfolio.
In April 2010, after numerous calls were made over several days for Geoghegan-Quinn to surrender her pensions as an Irish former politician—which were worth over €104,000—while she remained in a paid public office, she did so.
In July 2015, it was announced that she would chair an independent panel to examine issues of gender equality among Irish higher education staff.
In March 2021, NUI Galway announced her appointment as chairperson of Údarás na hOllscoile, the University's Governing Authority, on a four-year term until 2025.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geoghegan-Quinn, Maire
1950 births
Living people
Alumni of Carysfort College
European Commissioners 2009–2014
Female justice ministers
Fianna Fáil TDs
Irish European Commissioners
Irish schoolteachers
Members of the 20th Dáil
Members of the 21st Dáil
Members of the 22nd Dáil
Members of the 23rd Dáil
Members of the 24th Dáil
Members of the 25th Dáil
Members of the 26th Dáil
Members of the 27th Dáil
20th-century women Teachtaí Dála
Ministers for Justice (Ireland)
Ministers for Transport (Ireland)
Ministers of State of the 21st Dáil
Ministers of State of the 23rd Dáil
Ministers of State of the 25th Dáil
Ministers of State of the 26th Dáil
Local councillors in Galway (city)
People associated with the University of Galway
Politicians from County Galway
Women European Commissioners
Women government ministers of the Republic of Ireland
Women ministers of state of the Republic of Ireland