Heather Humphreys (born 14 May 1963) is an Irish

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 � ...

politician who has served as

Minister for Rural and Community Development The Minister for Rural and Community Development (Irish: ''An tAire Forbartha Tuaithe agus Pobail'') is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Rural and Community Development. The current Minister for Rural ...

and

Minister for Social Protection The Minister for Social Protection ( ga, An tAire Cosanta Sóisialta) is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Social Protection. The current Minister for Social Protection is Heather Humphreys. She is also ...

since June 2020. She also briefly served as

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 Just ...

in November and December 2022 to facilitate the maternity leave of

Helen McEntee Helen McEntee (born 8 June 1986) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as Minister for Justice from June 2020 to November 2022. From April to November 2021, she became a minister without portfolio during a period of maternity leave ...

, which she had previously done from April to November 2021. She has been 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

Cavan–Monaghan Cavan Monaghan (known as Cavan-Millbrook-North Monaghan until 2007) is a township in Peterborough County in central-eastern Ontario, Canada, southwest of the city of Peterborough. History The original townships of Cavan and Monaghan were survey ...

constituency since 2011. She previously served as Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation from 2017 to 2020,

Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media ( ga, An tAire Turasóireachta, Cultúir, Ealaíon, Gaeltachta, Spóirt agus Meán) is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Tourism, Cultu ...

from June 2017 to November 2017,

Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media ( ga, An tAire Turasóireachta, Cultúir, Ealaíon, Gaeltachta, Spóirt agus Meán) is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Tourism, Cultu ...

from 2016 to 2017 and Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht from 2014 to 2016.

Early life

Humphreys was born in the village of Drum, County Monaghan, in 1963. She was raised as a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

; her father is a member of the Orange Order, while her grandfather, Robert James Stewart, signed the

Ulster Covenant Ulster's Solemn League and Covenant, commonly known as the Ulster Covenant, was signed by nearly 500,000 people on and before 28 September 1912, in protest against the Third Home Rule Bill introduced by the British Government in the same year. ...

opposing

Home Rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...

in 1912. Humphreys was educated at St. Aidan's Comprehensive School in

Cootehill Cootehill (; ) is a market town and townland in County Cavan, Ireland. Cootehill was formerly part of the neighbouring townland of Munnilly. Both townlands lie within the barony of Tullygarvey. The English language name of the town is a port ...

. She then attended

University College Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

. For a number of years she worked as an official with

Ulster Bank Ulster Bank ( ga, Banc Uladh) is a large retail bank, and one of the traditional Big Four (banking)#Ireland, Big Four Irish clearing banks. The Ulster Bank Group is subdivided into two separate legal entities: NatWest, National Westminster Ban ...

and the

Credit Union A credit union, a type of financial institution similar to a commercial bank, is a member-owned nonprofit organization, nonprofit financial cooperative. Credit unions generally provide services to members similar to retail banks, including depo ...

. She was later appointed manager of Cootehill Credit Union.

Early political career

Following the abolition of the dual mandate in 2003, Humphreys was co-opted onto

Monaghan County Council Monaghan County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Mhuineacháin) is the authority responsible for local government in County Monaghan, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for ho ...

in succession to Seymour Crawford. She was elected in her own right at the 2004 local elections and once again following the 2009 local elections. She was elected as Mayor of Monaghan County in 2009. While a member of the council, she served as Chair of the council's Strategic Policy Committee on Planning and Economic Development. Humphreys was elected as a Fine Gael TD for

at the 2011 general election. She is the only

member of the

Oireachtas The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of: *The President of Ireland *The bicameralism, two houses of the Oireachtas ...

Ministerial career

After an initial period on the backbenches, Humphreys was appointed Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, following a cabinet reshuffle in July 2014. After just a few months in the position she became embroiled in controversy over her appointment of John McNulty to the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) on 12 September 2014 just before his nomination for a Seanad by-election to the

Cultural and Educational Panel The Cultural and Educational Panel () is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland). The Cultural and Educational Panel elects five ...

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 Christian- ...

leader

Micheál Martin Micheál Martin (; born 1 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who is serving as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence since December 2022. He served as Taoiseach from 2020 to 2022 and has been Leader of ...

said at the "very basic level, she should say what officials in Fine Gael asked her to appoint Mr McNulty to the board of Imma". Although Humphreys said John Nulty was selected "on merit", she later admitted she regretted the decision. In the preparations of the 2016 Easter Rising centenary celebrations, she said: In March 2016, Humphreys approved a decision to demolish the buildings 13-19 on

Moore Street Moore Street (; ) is a street in central Dublin, Ireland, off Henry Street, one of Ireland's main shopping streets. The famous Moore Street open-air fruit and vegetable market is Dublin's oldest food market. The market there is a famous landm ...

as she deemed them to not be of "historical importance". The buildings were where the first bullets of the 1916 Easter rising were fired. Following the formation of a Fine Gael minority government in May 2016, Humphreys was appointed to the expanded position of Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. She was appointed as

in the government of Leo Varadkar in July 2017. On 30 November 2017, Humphreys was appointed as Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation. She succeeded Frances Fitzgerald, who had resigned on 28 November. On 27 June 2020, Humphreys was appointed as

and

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, 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 legisl ...

. On 27 April 2021, she was assigned the addition position of

on a temporary basis during the maternity leave of

, serving until 1 November 2021. In November 2022, it was announced that she would be assigned to the position of Minister for Justice for a second time during the maternity leave of McEntee from December. On 17 December 2022, she was re-appointed to the same positions following Leo Varadkar's appointment as Taoiseach, but her temporary position of Minister for Justice was given to

Simon Harris Simon Harris (born 17 October 1986) is an Irish politician who has served as Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael since 2024. A TD for the Wicklow constituency since 2011, he has served as a minister in the government of Ireland since 2016 and f ...

References

External links

*
Heather Humphreys's page on the Fine Gael website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Humphreys, Heather 1963 births Living people Alumni of the University of Galway Women government ministers of the Republic of Ireland Fine Gael TDs Irish Presbyterians Local councillors in County Monaghan Members of the 31st Dáil Members of the 32nd Dáil 21st-century women Teachtaí Dála Members of the 33rd Dáil Ministers for Social Affairs (Ireland) Ministers for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Female justice ministers Ministers for Justice (Ireland)