Politics has been a way of life for Maire Geoghegan-Quinn since

childhood, so it's hardly surprising that Ireland's new Minister for

Justice is determined to become the country's first woman Prime

Minister. John Cooney reports

Maire will

remember 1992 as

a remarkable

year. Twice in 12

months she stared

political oblivion

in the face

IT IS no accident that Maire Geoghegan-Quinn is known as Go-Go Quinn.

The deputy for Galway West is regarded as a potential saviour of the

floundering Fianna Fail party, whose fix-it approach to politics is

increasingly out of touch with a more critical electorate which wants

Irish politics to be based more on efficiency and accountability than on

strokes and deals.

Fianna Fail is in her blood; her father, the late Johnnie Geoghegan,

was a deputy for West Galway. A fluent Irish speaker, she was introduced

to politics at the age of two when she was taken to Leinster House

seated on a tea-chest in the back of a car. At 15, she was making

election speeches in Irish for her father from a lobby outside

church-gates in Carna.

After training in Dublin to be a primary school-teacher, she married

John Quinn by whom she has two sons. On the death of her father in 1975,

she stood in the by-election and won the seat.

At only 42, she has held a number of senior cabinet posts and has

built up a solid reputation in the EC as a charming but tough

negotiator. Her tongue is sharp and her eyes are fixed on becoming

Ireland's first Taoiseach when Albert Reynolds retires or leaves office

later this decade.

With the flamboyant and capable Mary O'Rourke relegated by Reynolds to

the junior ranks of ministers, Go-Go is ahead of her main female rival

and is well placed to achieve her ambition. Her main opponent could be

Bertie Ahern, the Finance Minister, her junior by a year.

Already she has three firsts in Irish politics to her credit. In 1977

she became the first woman junior minister when Jack Lynch appointed her

parliamentary secretary in the Department of Industry. In 1979, the year

in which Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister in Britain, Go-Go

became the first woman in cabinet in Ireland since Countess Markievicz

was made Sinn Fein's Minister for Labour in the first Dail in 1919.

Last Wednesday Maire Geoghegan-Quinn became the first woman to take

charge of the austere Justice Ministry, which plays an important role in

British-Irish intelligence contacts against IRA and loyalist terrorists

but which is struggling to cope with the Republic's growth in urban

crime, drugs-trafficking and money-laundering.

Although delighted to be back in government with Labour on the basis

of a four-year reformist programme, Maire will long remember 1992 as a

remarkable year in which she experienced the depths as well as the

heights of politics. Twice in 12 months she stared political oblivion in

the face.

Last year started with her in the political wilderness. Previously an

admirer of Charles Haughey, she became disillusioned with him when in

July 1989 he negotiated a coalition government with Desmond O'Malley,

the former Fianna Fail minister who had established the Progressive

Democrats. She told Haughey that she never wanted to see his face on an

election poster ever again.

Although Haughey appointed her a junior minister with responsibility

for Europe, Go-Go became an ally of Albert Reynolds, who made his first

bid for the leadership in November 1991. When it failed, she was

dismissed by Haughey along with Reynolds. But Reynolds's second stab at

the leadership last January was successful, and she returned to power as

Minister for Transport and Communications. A key figure in the Reynolds

team, she was tipped to succeed Ray MacSharry on the EC Commission.

Such speculation nearly destroyed her when Reynolds precipitated a

General Election in November and her seat in West Galway was under

threat. To silence a whispering-campaign that a vote for Brussels-bound

Maire was a waste, she told the selection convention in Galway that she

was wedded to her constituency. She held her seat against the odds

despite a backlash against Fianna Fail.

Reynolds's government pact with Labour has catapulted her into the

most macho ministry, where her first task will be to introduce

legislation decriminalising homosexuality. She will have an important

influence on abortion and divorce legislation, though the prime

responsibility for piloting these through the Dail will be assigned to

the new Minister for Equality, Mervyn Taylor. She is on the liberal wing

of Fianna Fail and has spoken out frequently on behalf of women's

rights.

She will be one of the principal negotiators, if talks are resumed

with Ulster Unionists, a broader stage on which to confirm her

credentials for Taoiseach. So far her luck has held.