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, 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 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
Geoghegan-Quinn at the signing ceremony for the European Research Area
Healthy Brain Healthy Europe Conference 2013: (Left to right) Patrick Kennedy, Geoghegan-Quinn, and James Reilly
When Reynolds resigned as leader of Fianna Fáil in November 1994, Geoghegan-Quinn was seen as his preferred successor in the position.[5] In the resulting leadership election she stood against Bertie Ahern; 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.[6]
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.[7] Other reports suggested that she saw her prospects for promotion under Ahern as poor,[8] and a weak showing in constituency opinion polls indicated her seat could be in danger.[9] She became a non-executive director of Aer Lingus, a member of the board of the Declan Ganley-owned Ganley Group, and wrote a column for The Irish Times.
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.[10]
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.[13]
In July 2015, it was announced that she would chair an independent panel to examine issues of gender equality among Irish higher education staff.[14]
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.[15][16]
References
^"Máire Geoghegan-Quinn". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 23 August 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2009.
^McNamara, Maedhbh and Paschal Mooney. Women in parliament: Ireland 1918-2000 Dublin, Wolfhound, 2000
^Kenny, Shane and Keane, Fergal, Irish Politics Now: 'This Week' Guide to the 25th Dáil, Dingle, Co. Kerry: Brandon/RTÉ, 1987, p. 61
^David Sharrock, "New coalition likely to avert Irish poll; Finance minister looks certain to take over from Reynolds", The Guardian, 19 November 1994.
^John Burns, "Softly, softly, says Ahern", The Sunday Times, 20 November 1994.
^Alan Murdoch, "Media blamed as Ireland's first woman cabinet minister quits", The Independent, 28 January 1997.
^Denis Coughlan, "Maybe more than a matter of family privacy Maire Geoghegan-Quinn will be a big loss to Fianna Fail, but the denizens of Leinster House are already calling 'next business'," Irish Times, 28 January 1997.
^John Burns and Rory Godson, "Desperately seeking candidates", The Sunday Times, 19 January 1997.
^"Former Members". European Court of Auditors. 16 January 2016. Archived from the original on 12 February 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
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