THE NEWSMAKERS: WHERE ARE THEY NOW:ALEXIS FITZGERALD and Mary Flaherty were, for a time in the early 1980s, something of a celebrity couple.
As well as both being Dublin-based Fine Gael TDs, Fitzgerald had the high-profile job of lord mayor of Dublin. Their courtship, and wedding reception in the Mansion House in June 1982, attracted considerable media coverage.
The couple seemed destined for long careers in politics, but it was not to be. Electoral defeat and family commitments led them to quit public life relatively early.
Family life takes up most of their free time nowadays, but they both remain interested in politics and campaign for the party at election time. At the time of their marriage, Flaherty, a former teacher, had already seen ministerial office, having been appointed a junior minister by Garret FitzGerald on her first day in the Dáil as TD for Dublin North West in 1981. Attached to the departments of health and social welfare, and described by the media as “minister for poverty”, she served in that post until the FG-Labour coalition fell in January 1982.
“I was naïve and idealistic, but I had a hot passion for the issues involved,” she recalls. She loved the job, she says, listing among her achievements the provision of funding, despite scarce resources, for the rebuilding of a refuge centre for battered wives in Dublin.
When Flaherty lost her Dáil seat in 1997, the couple had four young sons.
“I found it was not possible to continue in politics for family reasons. I faced making a decision many women with children have to make. I decided to take a year out.”
She later became involved with the Cari foundation, which helps the victims of child sexual abuse, and is now its chief executive.
In media interviews, she is outspoken on issues relating to Cari, urging her former colleagues in Leinster House to ensure the referendum on children’s rights goes ahead.
Fitzgerald, meanwhile, lost his Dáil seat in Dublin South East, won back a Seanad seat he had earlier held, but failed to get a Dáil nomination and also lost his base in the Seanad in 1987.
“I decided to quit politics, although I would have preferred it to be otherwise. You have to take stock of where you are; politics is a lucky business for some, not so lucky for others.”
Formerly an auctioneer and estate agent, Fitzgerald is now a planning consultant.
He is a member of the committee of former Oireachtas members, which deals with practical issues like pensions as well as organising social get-togethers and contact with similar groups throughout Europe.
He was involved with the committee in organising a seminar on electoral reform.
He doubts if he would run again for elected office.
“Politics demands an enormous commitment. We have more time now for personal life. If we were both still TDs, it would be a difficult one to carry.”
