Frances Fitzgerald (; born 1 August 1950) is an Irish politician who has been a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP) from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

for the

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

constituency since July 2019. She is a member of

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

, part of the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...

. She previously served as

Tánaiste The Tánaiste ( , ) is the deputy head of the government of Ireland and thus holder of its second-most senior office. The Tánaiste is appointed by the President of Ireland on the advice of the Taoiseach. The current office holder is former Taoi ...

from 2016 to 2017, Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation from June 2017 to November 2017, Minister for Justice and Equality from 2014 to 2016, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs from 2011 to 2014 and Leader of Fine Gael in the Seanad from 2007 to 2011. She served as a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...

(TD) from 1992 to 2002 and 2011 to 2019. She was also a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for the

Labour Panel The Labour Panel ( ga, An Rolla Oibreachais) is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland). The Labour Panel elects eleven senators. ...

from 2007 to 2011. She was the second Fine Gael politician to ever hold the office of

, after Peter Barry in 1987.

Early and personal life

Born Frances Ryan, in

Croom, County Limerick Croom () is a village in County Limerick, Ireland. It is located just off the N20 (which has bypassed the town since 2001) on the River Maigue. It is 8 km southeast of Adare on the N20. History Cromadh (now Croom) was a village in th ...

, she was educated at the Holy Family Secondary School Newbridge, the

Dominican College Sion Hill Dominican College Sion Hill is one of the oldest girls' secondary schools in Ireland, founded in 1836 in Blackrock, County Dublin. Its approach to education is based on the Dominican ideal of developing the whole person. "Dominican College Sion ...

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

and the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

, where she studied a Masters in Social Administration and Social Work. She is a former

social worker Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

. She is married to Professor of Psychiatry Michael Fitzgerald, with whom she has three sons.

Political career

Fitzgerald was first elected to

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland read ...

as a Fine Gael TD for the Dublin South-East constituency, at the 1992 general election. She retained her seat at the 1997 general election. She lost her seat at the 2002 general election. She then stood for election to the 22nd Seanad, for the

Administrative Panel The Administrative Panel () is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland). The Administrative Panel elects seven senators. Election ...

, but was unsuccessful. At the 1999 local elections, she was elected as a member of

Dublin City Council Dublin City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the authority responsible for local government in the city of Dublin in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Until 2001, the council wa ...

for the

Rathmines Rathmines () is an affluent inner suburb on the Southside of Dublin in Ireland. It lies three kilometres south of the city centre. It begins at the southern side of the Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to t ...

local electoral area, she sought to contest the 2004 local elections for the Rathmines ward but was not selected at the convention, losing out to Edie Wynne and Brian Gillen. She was not subsequently added to the ticket. Before being elected a TD, she had been a high-profile Chair of the Council for the Status of Women from 1988 to 1992. She was the Fine Gael candidate at the 2007 general election for the Dublin Mid-West constituency, but was not elected. She was elected to the Seanad in July 2007. On 12 September 2007, she was appointed leader of the Fine Gael group in Seanad Éireann, and was also Fine Gael Seanad Spokesperson on Health and Children, and a member of the Fine Gael Front Bench.

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (2011–2014)

She was elected as a Fine Gael TD for the Dublin Mid-West constituency at the

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

and

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

general elections. On 9 March 2011, she was appointed as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. In the role she spoke out forcefully against the Catholic Church's role in covering up child abuse. She piloted the referendum on children's rights in 2012. As a result, Article 42a was inserted into the Constitution. She enacted the Children First legislation, to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect and to improve child protection.

Minister for Justice and Equality (2014–2017)

On 8 May 2014, Fitzgerald succeeded Alan Shatter as Minister for Justice and Equality. Fitzgerald has spoken out in support of young families, and believes the government should take a more proactive role in helping parents and children. "I feel so strongly about the State taking a more proactive role around childcare, paternity leave and parental leave," she noted. "I do want to see us getting to the place where the State is more supportive when it comes to childcare. We have been slow enough on that." In early 2016, when gangland activity became an issue in

, Fitzgerald committed that there would be a permanent armed response unit in Dublin. On 6 May 2016, Fitzgerald was reappointed as Minister for Justice and Equality. She was also promoted to the position of

(Deputy Prime Minister), by

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Enda Kenny Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 2017, Leader of the Opposition from ...

. After the 2017 Fine Gael leadership election, brought about by Enda Kenny's resignation as party leader, Fitzgerald 'seriously considered' putting her name down as a candidate for leader but ultimately decided against it. After

Leo Varadkar Leo Eric Varadkar ( ; born 18 January 1979) is an Irish politician who has served as Taoiseach since December 2022, and previously from 2017 to 2020. He served as Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment from June 2020 to De ...

was elected

Leader of Fine Gael The Leader of Fine Gael is the most senior politician within the Fine Gael political party in Ireland. Since 2 June 2017, the office has been held by Leo Varadkar following the resignation of Enda Kenny. The deputy leader of Fine Gael is Simon ...

, and by extension Taoiseach-designate, he was asked whether he would make his rival

Simon Coveney Simon Coveney (born 16 June 1972) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment since December 2022 and Deputy Leader of Fine Gael since 2017. He previously served as Minister for Foreign Affai ...

Tánaiste. He confirmed Fitzgerald would remain as Tánaiste, saying 'we have a Tánaiste, it's Frances Fitzgerald and I think she's doing an excellent job'. Upon his appointment as Taoiseach, Varadkar retained Fitzgerald as Tánaiste, but moved her from Justice and Equality to Business, Enterprise and Innovation.

Charles Flanagan Charlie Flanagan (born 1 November 1956) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Laois–Offaly constituency since 2020, and previously from 1987 to 2002, 2007 to 2016 and from 2016 to 2020 for the Laois const ...

replaced her as Minister of Justice and Equality.

Resignation

In November 2017, Fitzgerald was accused of interference in the case of a

whistleblower A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...

, who had claimed widespread malpractice and corruption in the

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace"), more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards", is the national police service of Ireland. The service is headed by the Garda Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Gover ...

. She denied the allegation,

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

Micheál Martin Micheál Martin (; born 1 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who is serving as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs (Ireland), Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence (Ireland), Minister for Defence since Decembe ...

threatened a vote of no confidence, jeopardising the confidence and supply between Fine Gael and

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christian- ...

. Whilst retaining support from many within her party, a number of Fine Gael deputies called on her to resign. On 28 November 2017, Fitzgerald relented, offering her resignation to the Taoiseach, which he accepted. Fitzgerald was later cleared of blame by the Collins Report in March 2018. In October 2018, the third interim report of the Disclosures Tribunal found that she had "selflessly" resigned in the national interest.

European Parliament

On 4 March 2019, Fine Gael announced that Fitzgerald would be one of their two candidates for the Dublin constituency in the 2019 European Parliament election. Former

SDLP The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) ( ga, Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Irela ...

leader

Mark Durkan Mark Durkan (born 26 June 1960) is a retired Irish nationalist politician from Northern Ireland. Durkan was the deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland from November 2001 to October 2002, and the Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Pa ...

, who joined Fine Gael to contest the election, was also announced as the second candidate. She was elected as an MEP on the 14th count, with 16.23% of first preference votes.

References

External links

*
Frances Fitzgerald's page on the Fine Gael website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgerald, Frances 1950 births Living people Alumni of University College Dublin Alumni of the London School of Economics Women government ministers of the Republic of Ireland Fine Gael TDs Local councillors in Dublin (city) Members of the 27th Dáil Members of the 28th Dáil Members of the 23rd Seanad 21st-century women members of Seanad Éireann Members of the 31st Dáil Members of the 32nd Dáil 20th-century women Teachtaí Dála 21st-century women Teachtaí Dála Ministers for Justice (Ireland) Politicians from County Limerick Tánaistí Fine Gael senators Female justice ministers MEPs for the Republic of Ireland 2019–2024 21st-century women MEPs for the Republic of Ireland People educated at Dominican College Sion Hill Fine Gael MEPs Ministers for Enterprise, Trade and Employment