Who is Heather Humphreys? Fine Gael's nominee in the presidential election

Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys is leading the race to become Ireland’s next president, according to the latest opinion polls.

The latest Red C survey for the Business Post puts the Fine Gael candidate leading the race on 22%, with Fianna Fáil’s Jim Gavin in second place on 18%.

The poll was conducted before the deadline for candidates to register closed.

Humphreys, who comes from a Presbyterian background, was born in Drum, Co Monaghan in 1960.

Her father was a member of the Orange Order and her grandfather opposed Home Rule by signing the Ulster Covenant in 1912.

Before politics, she worked as an official for Ulster Bank and Credit Union, serving as manager of Cootehill Credit Union from 1999 to 2011.

Having grown up during the Troubles, the IRA’s 1977 murder of Billy Fox, a Protestant Fine Gael politician from Monaghan, had a particular impact on Humphreys.

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Her political career began in 2003, when she was co-opted onto Monaghan County Council to succeed Seymour Crawford.

The following year, Humphreys was elected in her own right at the 2004 local elections. In 2009, she retained her seat on the council and was also named Mayor of Monaghan County.

Two years later, she successfully contested the general election and became the Fine Gael TD for Cavan-Monaghan.

After just three years on the backbenches, Humphreys was appointed Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht during the cabinet reshuffle of July 2014.

She became no stranger to controversy during her time in Cabinet. Once such controversy was the fact that despite being Minister for the Gaeltacht, she didn’t speak Irish.

The then-Taoiseach Enda Kenny promised that Humphreys would soon be fluent, but the Monaghan native has admitted only recently that she is still working on her Irish.

Her decision to appoint businessman John McNulty to the board of IMMA at a time when he was contesting a Seanad by-election also proved controversial.

Although Humphreys said he was appointed on merit, she later admitted that the appointment was a mistake.

Despite these controversies, Humphreys played an important role in the 2016 Easter Rising centenary celebrations.

At the time, she promised to respect the “differing traditions on this island”, describing herself as “a Protestant and an Ulsterwoman who is a proud Irish republican”.

She was re-elected to the Dáil later that year, and was appointed to the expanded position of Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.

In November 2017, she succeeded Frances Fitzgerald as Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation.

Humphreys successfully contested her third general election in 2020, following which she was appointed as Minister for Social Protection and Minister for Rural and Community Development.

With the cost-of-living rising, the Department of Social Protection had the largest budget of any department during Humphreys’ tenure.

She also filled in as Minister for Justice in 2021, when Helen McEntee was on maternity leave.

Despite a consistent rise, Humphreys’ political career took a hit when she served as Fine Gael’s Director of Elections for the Family & Care Referendums last year.

The government pushed hard for a ‘Yes Yes’ vote, but both referendums were defeated by a sizable majority.

Just a few weeks later, Leo Varadkar stepped down as Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael.

Following the elevation of Simon Harris to both positions, Humphreys was appointed as the party’s deputy leader.

In October 2024, she announced she would not contest the 2024 General Election and would be stepping down from her position as Fine Gael deputy leader.

She said at the time: "I'll be 65 next year and if I ran again I'd be nearly 70 by the end of the next Dáil term and I'm just not physically able to keep going for that long."

She maintained a relatively low profile in the months that followed and ruled herself out of running for president in May.

However, the shock departure of Mairéad McGuinness prompted Humphreys to reconsider her decision as she declared: "the tank is full again".