Book will have to be put on hold as ‘pioneer’ continues with career

MÁIRE Geoghegan Quinn recently commented that when her current term in the European Court of Auditors ran out in 2012, she would “return to Galway to put my feet up and write a book”.

But, as one of Ireland’s youngest ministers and the first woman to hold a cabinet position since Countess Markiewicz, she was never destined to step out of public life quietly.

Described as a pioneer for Irish women in politics, Máire Geoghegan Quinn was elected to the Dáil in a by-election caused by her father’s death in 1975. She took over the seat Johnny Geoghegan had held in Galway West since 1954.