Liz McManus

Liz McManus
McManus, c. 2002
Deputy leader of the Labour Party
In office
25 October 2002 – 4 October 2007
LeaderPat Rabbitte
Preceded byBrendan Howlin
Succeeded byJoan Burton
Minister of State
1994–1997Environment
Teachta Dála
In office
November 1992 – February 2011
ConstituencyWicklow
Personal details
Born (1947-03-23) 23 March 1947 (age 77)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Political partyLabour Party
(since 1999)
Other political
affiliations
Spouse
John McManus
​
​
(m. 1980; div. 2011)​
[1]
Children4
Alma materUniversity College Dublin
WebsiteOfficial website

Liz McManus (born 23 March 1947) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as Deputy leader of the Labour Party from 2002 to 2007 and Minister of State at the Department of the Environment from 1994 to 1997. She served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wicklow constituency from 1992 to 2011.[2]

Early life and writing career

McManus was born in 1947 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.[3] She studied Architecture at University College Dublin, where she shared a drawing desk with Ruairi Quinn. McManus is an accomplished writer. She has won the Hennessy, Listowel and Irish PEN awards in fiction. Her first novel Acts of Subversion was nominated for the Aer Lingus/Irish Times Literature Prize. McManus was also a weekly columnist with the Sunday Tribune from 1986 until 1992.

Political career

She first ran for political office in 1979, when she was elected to Bray Urban District Council for Sinn Féin the Workers' Party. In 1985 she was elected to Wicklow County Council. She helped establish a women's refuge in Bray in 1978 and was its convenor until 1991.[3]

McManus was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1992 general election, as a member of Democratic Left.[3] She retained her seat in every subsequent election until her retirement in 2011.[4] In 1994, Democratic Left formed a government with Fine Gael and the Labour Party, and McManus was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, with responsibility for Housing and Urban Renewal, serving until the coalition lost office in 1997. During this period she was also a member of the Northern Ireland Forum for Peace and Reconciliation.

In 1999, Democratic Left merged with the Labour Party, and in 2002 McManus was elected deputy leader of the Labour Party.[3] Another former Democratic Left TD, Pat Rabbitte, became leader of the party. She also became the Labour Party Spokesperson on Health, serving in both positions until 2007.

Following the resignation of Pat Rabbitte on 23 August 2007, she was acting leader of the Labour Party until September 2007, but chose not to stand for re-election as deputy leader, when a deputy leadership election was held. Joan Burton replaced her as deputy leader. She was party Spokesperson on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources from 2007 to 2011.

McManus in 2011

She retired from politics at the 2011 general election, which she did not contest.[5]

Private life

She was formerly married to John McManus; the couple had four children. They publicly separated in 2006.[6] John McManus, a physician in general practice, was a Labour member of Bray Town Council from 1999 to 2009.

By February 2015 McManus had been with her new partner, Sean, also active in the Labour Party, for ten years. McManus stated the pair met three weeks after her split from her first husband.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Coffey, Edel (22 February 2015). "Ex-TD Liz McManus: 'Sean's the love of my life: he lives in his house and I live in mine'". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  2. ^ "Liz McManus". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 14 August 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2009.
  3. ^ a b c d Byrne, Padraig (21 February 2015). "From the Dáil to the writer's desk". Bray People. Retrieved 11 February 2024. The daughter of a civil servant, Liz was born in Canada and spent much of her early life travelling around the world. 'I was born in Montreal,' she said.
  4. ^ "Liz McManus". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 3 February 2009. Retrieved 2 October 2009.
  5. ^ "Labour's McManus will not seek re-election". RTÉ News. 3 September 2010. Archived from the original on 4 September 2010. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  6. ^ "Break-up did not make me quit: McManus". Sunday Independent. Ireland. 2 September 2007. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
Political offices
Preceded by Deputy leader of Labour Party
2002–2007 		Succeeded by