Fitzgerald’s reputation eclipsed her achievements

IT’S almost a truism to say that women must prove themselves as twice as capable as men if they are to succeed in politics.

But Fine Gael MEP Frances Fitzgerald, who has announced her retirement after 30 years in politics, may be the exception.

She served as Tánaiste to Taoisigh Enda Kenny and Leo Varadkar, as a Senator and enjoyed three Cabinet ministries: Justice and Equality; Business, Enterprise and Innovation and the first Minister for Children and Youth Affairs.

She was humiliated and forced to resign as Minister for Justice over the Garda whistleblower controversy, but rose again to contest the European elections as one of her party’s two Dublin candidates.

Despite these plum opportunities, she never lived up to her early promises of serious social reforms and women’s rights.

But she is a trail blazer in one respect. As one of the first women in Irish politics to enjoy a reputation that far eclipses their achievements, and that is owing largely to their membership of powerful organisations.

Fitzgerald joined the Women’s Political Association (WPA) and the Council for the Status of Women at an exciting time for women’s political advancement. Frances surfed that wave, first elected to the Dáil in 1992, in the slipstream of a generation of pioneering Fine Gael women including Gemma Hussey, Nuala Fennell and Monica Barnes who swept into Dáil Éireann supporting Garret FitzGerald’s ‘liberal agenda’.

Feminism was good for her career, she rode the wave. Whether her career was any benefit to women is questionable.