We have lost a woman of great charm, courage and conviction

EILEEN DESMOND was one of the greats.

The facts of her career are well known the first woman to be appointed to a senior cabinet post, the woman who secured a 25% increase in social welfare rates (the highest ever increase), a successful and popular TD and senator for more than 20 years.

But what is less well-known is the courage and character of a woman in what must have been often a heartbreakingly lonely position. She became a TD only because her husband died after they were just 12 years married.