The political journey of Déirdre de Búrca

IN theory, Déirdre de Búrca’s decision to run in Dublin in last year’s European elections shouldn’t have caused much of a stir, given that she had grown up in Loughlinstown.

In fact, it proved a disastrous decision, because by the time her European campaign was launched last March, de Búrca, 46, had lived in Wicklow for many years and established her political base there.

She was a member of Wicklow County Council from 1999 to 2007 and hoped to use that platform to win a seat in the Dáil.