Profile: Heather Humphreys

GEOGRAPHY, gender and geopolitics have all helped shape Heather Humphreys’s rise through Irish politics.

The new Business Minister was as shocked as anyone when she received a phone call from Enda Kenny in July 2014, informing her that she was to be appointed to Cabinet where she filled the Arts, Culture and Heritage portfolio.

From Mr Kenny’s perspective, it was a masterstroke. Ms Humphreys, in many ways, is a minister who ticks all the boxes from a Taoiseach’s perspective.

She hails from the Border constituency of Cavan-Monaghan, one which saw Fine Gael lose a seat in the party’s 2016 general election drubbing.

Ms Humphreys also covers the gender base – an issue that has led to criticism being levelled at Mr Kenny and his successor Leo Varadkar.

But above all, Ms Humphreys is both talented and capable. She has proved herself to be a safe and loyal pair of hands.

She managed to restore her credibility after finding herself at the centre of the embarrassing John McNulty affair.

A member of the Presbyterian community from a border county, she successfully oversaw the events surrounding the 1916 commemoration and the Creative Ireland initiative.

In Mr Kenny’s last reshuffle, she was promoted to the post of Rural Affairs Minister, which was combined with her Arts portfolio.

Within the Fine Gael parliamentary party, she is particularly close to ministers Michael Ring, Patrick O’Donovan and Paul Kehoe.