Proinsias De Rossa took his first bold step into the political arena more than 40 years ago. Then 16 and a member of the republican youth organisation, Fianna Eireann, he was interned without trial in the Curragh detention camp.
His political education came courtesy of then leading republicans Ruairi O Bradaigh and Tomas MacGiolla, and after the Sinn Fein split in 1970 he sided with the Officials. It has been said, however, by those who know him that he has long been an opponent of violence.
Political activism began in 1967 through the Dublin Housing Action Committee, but during this time he also worked as a bus driver, encyclopedia salesman and fruit and vegetable seller.
He married Monica and has two sons and one daughter, but down the years his family privacy has always been carefully guarded. Mr De Rossa (56) was elected TD for Sinn Fein-The Workers Party in 1982 in his native constituency of Dublin North West. His performance in the Dail helped give weight to the then fledgling party and in 1987 the party gained two more seats. In the following year, Mr De Rossa took over as party leader. Younger citizens who have followed Mr De Rossa's libel action against the Sunday Independent will have been given a potted history of the WP - warts and all. The events leading up to the split in the WP in February 1992, and the subsequent formation of Democratic Left, have been particularly well detailed. The doggedness with which Mr De Rossa pursued his libel action has been characteristic of his political life. He has meanwhile maintained an approachable manner, and rarely shied away from requests for interviews. In debate he can be feisty, as was demonstrated during his tenure as Minister for Social Welfare. During a discussion on the divorce referendum, he accused the Archbishop of Cashel, Dr Clifford, of "lies and deceit" over statistics on the breakdown of second marriages.
Last month, in an interview on RTE's Morning Ireland, Mr De Rossa apologised to the archbishop.
In the recent election, Mr De Rossa's constituents gave him a scare. At 3 a.m., following the 10th count, he snatched the last seat by 100 votes. Philosophically, he spoke afterwards of the risk run by high-profile ministers not being visible in their constituencies.
But even when defeat looked likely he pledged to remain in politics "to be the scourge of those who murder people in Northern Ireland and abuse the poor and disadvantaged".