Obituaries

Mary O’Rourke obituary: Fianna Fáil grandee blessed with deep political stamina

Politician who carved out a career on merit, serving in several senior ministries in addition to being party deputy leader

Mary O'Rourke hailed from a family steeped in Fianna Fáil. Photograph: The Irish Times
Mary O'Rourke hailed from a family steeped in Fianna Fáil. Photograph: The Irish Times
Thu Oct 03 2024 - 18:32
Mary O’Rourke
Born: May 31st, 1937,
Died: October 3rd, 2024

Mary O’Rourke was one of the first women to achieve political prominence in this country, holding senior positions in government and opposition for 30 years. After leaving politics she remained in the public eye as a media pundit and author of a bestselling memoir.

While she came from a leading Fianna Fáil family, O’Rourke carved out a political career on her own merits, serving in several senior ministries, including education and public enterprise, and was deputy leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2002.

O’Rourke relished the cut and thrust of politics, enjoying spats with opponents and the intrigue that went with internal party manoeuvring. She made it her business to be on good terms with political journalists in Leinster House and was always ready with a pithy quote. Her relations with the media were so good that some of her ministerial colleagues suspected her of being the source of regular cabinet leaks.

O’Rourke shared the Longford-Westmeath constituency with her equally ambitious Fianna Fáil colleague, Albert Reynolds, and their intense rivalry regularly spilt into public squabbles

She was never a token woman in what was a male-dominated world but fought her way to the top. Her lively and entertaining personality helped propel her up the political ladder and she made many friends and a few enemies along the way.

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O’Rourke shared the Longford-Westmeath constituency with her equally ambitious Fianna Fáil colleague, Albert Reynolds, and their intense rivalry regularly spilt into public squabbles. The most notable was the “Battle of Tang” which took place during the 1987 general election when the two candidates and their supporters squared up to each other outside Sunday Mass at the church in Tang on the Westmeath-Longford border.

“I arrived at the church with my truck, my guys and my microphone. Shortly afterwards, Albert arrived with his truck, his guys and his microphone,” she wrote in her memoir Just Mary. She recorded that there was “an almighty stand-off” with bitter words leading to some jostling and blows were even threatened before the two sides saw sense.

[ Mary O’Rourke, former Fianna Fáil minister, dies aged 87 ]

O’Rourke was an ardent supporter of Charles Haughey during his leadership of Fianna Fáil and Reynolds famously demoted her on his accession to the taoiseach’s office. Unlike some others demoted at the time she didn’t sulk but accepted a junior ministry as a stepping stone back to cabinet. The accession of Bertie Ahern marked her return to the party’s front rank.

She was born in Athlone, Co Westmeath, in 1937, one of five children. Her father, Patrick Lenihan, was appointed by Fianna Fáil’s Seán Lemass to run the Gentex textile factory in the town. She went to the local national school before going on to Loreto Bray as a boarder and then to University College Dublin where she graduated with a BA. She completed a Higher Diploma in Education subsequently at Maynooth and worked as a secondary teacher.

After her marriage to Enda O’Rourke in 1960, she continued to teach but became increasingly involved in politics in her home constituency

Her brother, Brian Lenihan, who was seven years older, was elected to the Seanad in 1957 and the Dáil in 1961, becoming a prominent minister during the 1960s. Her father was elected to the Dáil for Longford-Westmeath in 1965 but died in 1970 shortly after retaining his seat in the 1969 general election.

After her marriage to Enda O’Rourke in 1960, she continued to teach but became increasingly involved in politics in her home constituency. She was elected to Athlone Urban District Council in 1974 and to Westmeath County Council in 1979. She secured election to the Seanad in 1981 and made her first narrowly unsuccessful run for the Dáil in February 1982. But in the second election of that year, she was elected and quickly established herself as a leading figure in Fianna Fáil.

Former senator Mary O'Rourke on the importance of the second house.

O’Rourke was a committed Haughey supporter during the dramatic leadership heave that followed her election to the Dáil and he appointed her as spokeswoman on education. She relished the opportunity and was a fierce critic of the minister, Gemma Hussey, during the Fine Gael-Labour government’s time in office from 1982 to 1987.

Haughey appointed her as minister for education after the 1987 general election. And her brother Brian was appointed as minister for foreign affairs in the same government. They remain the only brother and sister to have served together in cabinet. As minister for education from 1987 to 1991 she had to preside over cuts in the department’s budget which led to an increase in the pupil-teacher ratio and large protests by the teaching unions.

Her prospects were transformed when Bertie Ahern became leader in 1994 and appointed her deputy leader

She was briefly minister for health from November 1991, until February 1992, when Haughey was forced to resign from office. She then contested the leadership against Reynolds and Michael Woods but found it difficult to get a seconder. Reynolds walked away with the contest and dropped her from the cabinet but offered her the consolation prize of a junior ministry.

Her prospects were transformed when Ahern became leader in 1994 and appointed her deputy leader. After the 1997 election, she became minister for public enterprise but, unlike her stint in education where she had taken tough decisions, her tenure in public enterprise was characterised by avoidance of confrontation with vested interests.

She was the butt of regular criticism from Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary for her attitude to Aer Lingus and the Dublin Airport Authority. O’Rourke presided over the privatisation of Telecom Éireann but she also took the decision not to proceed with the plan to connect the two Luas lines in response to strong objections from Dublin business interests. That decision was reversed more than a decade later when the two lines were linked as intended in the original plan.

O’Rourke was one of the shock losers in the 2002 general election in which Fianna Fáil surprised pundits by coming close to winning an overall majority. Her defeat was down to a party strategy aimed at winning two seats out of three in the new Westmeath constituency that came unstuck. The sole Fianna Fáil seat was won by long-time senator Donie Cassidy. She took the defeat on the chin and ran for the Seanad to which she was duly elected. Ahern appointed her as leader of the House and she continued to maintain a strong public profile in that role.

O’Rourke became a regular contributor to radio and television programmes and in 2012 published her memoir which became a bestseller

She regained her Dáil seat in 2007 but was not reappointed to the cabinet. But she did have the satisfaction of seeing her nephew, Brian Lenihan jnr, being appointed minister for justice and then minister for finance in that government while another nephew, Conor Lenihan, was appointed as a junior minister.

That government suffered a precipitous decline in popularity as a result of the financial crisis and the EU-IMF financial bailout. Subsequently, several ministers decided not to contest the 2011 election. O’Rourke, however, did not shirk the challenge and stood for the last time, going down to defeat like most of her party colleagues.

Out of party politics, she became a regular contributor to radio and television programmes. In 2012 she published her memoir which became a bestseller. Her husband Enda, to whom she was devoted, died in January 2001. The couple had two children Feargal and Aengus.