Heather Humphreys

Humphreys was born in the village of Drum, County Monaghan, in 1963. Raised as a Presbyterian, her father is a member of the Orange Order, while her grandfather, Robert James Stewart, signed the Ulster Covenant opposing Home Rule in 1912.[3][4] Humphreys was educated at St. Aidan's Comprehensive School in Cootehill. She then attended University College Galway (now NUI Galway).[5] For a number of years she worked as an official with Ulster Bank and the Credit Union. She was later appointed manager of Cootehill Credit Union.

Following the abolition of the dual mandate in 2003, Humphreys was co-opted onto Monaghan County Council in succession to Seymour Crawford. She was elected in her own right at the 2004 local elections and once again following the 2009 local elections.[6] She was elected as Mayor of Monaghan County in 2009.[7] While a member of the council, she served as Chair of the council's Strategic Policy Committee on Planning and Economic Development.

Humphreys was elected as a Fine Gael TD for Cavan–Monaghan at the 2011 general election. She is the only Presbyterian member of the Oireachtas.[8]

After an initial period on the backbenches, Humphreys was appointed Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, following a cabinet reshuffle in July 2014.[9] After just a few months in the position she became embroiled in controversy over her appointment of John McNulty to the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA). McNulty was a Fine Gael candidate for a Seanad by-election and his appointment occurred a few days before his nomination was announced. Humphreys was accused of stroke politics and cronyism. In her role as the Minister responsible for the preparations of the 2016 Easter Rising centenary celebrations, she said:

Given my background as a Protestant and an Ulsterwoman who is a proud Irish republican, I appreciate the need to respect the differing traditions on this island.[10]

Following the formation of a Fine Gael minority government in May 2016, Humphreys was appointed to the expanded position of Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.[11][12] She was appointed as Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in the government of Leo Varadkar in July 2017.

On 30 November 2017, Humphreys was appointed as Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation. She succeeded Frances Fitzgerald, who had resigned on 28 November.[13]

On 27 June 2020, Humphreys was appointed as Minister for Social Protection and Minister for Rural and Community Development by Taoiseach Micheál Martin.[14]

On September 12th, 2014, Minister Humphreys appointed John Nulty to the Board of john n. Mr Nulty was a Fine Gael Senate by-election candidate six days earlier. Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said at the “very basic level, she should say what officials in Fine Gael asked her to appoint Mr McNulty to the board of Imma”.[15] Although Minister Humphreys said John Nulty was selected "on merit" she later admitted she regretted the decision.[16]

In March of 2016, Humphreys approved a decision to demolish the buildings 13-19 on Moore Street as she deemed them to not be of "historical importance".[17] The buildings were where the first bullets of the 1916 Easter rising were fired. Her commemoration speech on March 28th was described as "barely audible" by the Irish times as she was met with hecklers saying "shame on you" and "out, out, out". [18]Despite calls for her resignation, she continued as Minister for Heritage.

In February 2020, Humphreys said that she had delivered a letter to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine which reportedly included "unfounded allegations" against officials prosecuting a man in her constituency with a record of convictions for cruelty to animals. An ongoing case against the man was withdrawn ahead of the scheduled trial.[19] According to The Sunday Times, the Department of Agriculture had received the letter on 24 January and told the man's solicitor on 29 January that it would not prosecute over injured and sick animals found on his land in February 2017.[20] The newspaper later reported that Humphreys's letter had included "a veiled threat" to make public information which the Department of Agriculture would prefer to keep secret.[21]

• Official website
• Heather Humphreys's page on the Fine Gael website