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.
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