Following the confirmation on the Joe Finnegan show this morning that Heather Humphreys will seek a nomination to run in the presidential race, what do we know about the local woman?
Heather Maud Humphreys (née Stewart) was born in 1960 and is a former Fine Gael politician who served at local and national level for the party.
She held various cabinet positions from 2014 up to 2025 when she decided to retire from political life.
Ms Humphreys was a TD for the Cavan-Monaghan constituency from 2011 to 2024. She also served as deputy leader of Fine Gael from April to October 2024.
Heather was born in the rural village of Drum in Co Monaghan in 1960. The village located in the west of the Farney county is one of the only Protestant-majority settlements in the Republic of Ireland.
Ms Humphreys was educated at St. Aidan's Comprehensive School in Cootehill and she attended University College Galway.
She worked as an official with Ulster Bank and the Credit Union. She was later appointed manager of Cootehill Credit Union, a position the Monaghan woman held for a long number of years.
Ms Humphreys was co-opted onto Monaghan County Council back in 2003 and was elected in her own right for the first time at the 2004 local elections and once again following the 2009 local elections. She was elected as Mayor of Monaghan County in 2009.
After an initial period on the backbenches, in a cabinet reshuffle in July of 2014, Ms Humphreys was appointed Minister for Arts, heritage and the Gaeltacht.
In 2017, she was appointed as Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation and then in 2020, she was appointed as Minister for Social Protection and also Minister for Rural and Community Development.
On the 19th of October 2024, the former local TD shocked many by announcing that she would not contest the 2024 General Election, saying "politicians are human too".
“I’m hanging up my political boots and I’m going to get involved in other things.
“I’m looking forward to spending more time with my family and my friends because some of them have been put on hold for the last 14 years, so they’ll be getting the phone calls now and having me out for coffee.
“But there’s other things to do in life and I’m looking forward to that.”
Now after a number of days of uncertainty, the local woman has decided to run for the top job and will now seek a nomination from her party for a tilt at the top job.
