Politicians come and go; some remain elected for years while others serve in government for a short term, and there are those who persist. The third could be said for former TD Eithne Fitzgerald, who ran for national office seven times.  

Eithne Fitzgerald was a former Labour party member and a TD who served in the south Dublin constituency from 1992 to 1997. 

Fitzgerald first joined the Labour Party when she was a college student in 1967 which fueled her interest in the field of politics. “I joined both the UCD branch and the one in my local area,” Fitzgerald said noting that back in the day “students were able to be in both a college branch and a local branch in their constituency” which for her was the south Dublin constituency branch.  

Fitzgerald then left the Labour Party when she graduated in 1970 and worked in the civil service in the Department of Finance. “As the civil service must be politically neutral, I resigned from the Labour Party,” she said.  

Woman in Politics in the 90’s 

Eithne Fitzgerald worked in the Department of Finance for two years until she got married in 1972, she then lost her permanent job due to “the marriage bar still being in force for married women up to July 1973,” Fitzgerald explained. 

After six years of not having a permanent job, she decided to put her name forward for city council candidate for the Labour Party in the 1979 local elections. “At that stage, Dublin County Council had no women members… I felt strongly that women’s perspective needed to be articulated in the council.” Fitzgerald wanted to discuss issues like play facilities for children, and the construction of streets and footpaths for people pushing prams and buggies. She eventually won that year’s election, the first time that she was elected for local office. 

Fitzgerald was one out of 4 women who got elected to the local government that year. “It was considered kind of a big breakthrough and traditionally… there were 36 members of the county council, and four of us were women, and we came into a council that had no women,” she said.  

Years in local office inspired her to go further in her career, and in 1981, she and a fellow councilor ran for election to the Dáil. That year she wasn’t successful in being elected but that didn’t stop her from running. “I ran in February of 1982…1987…1989…” Fitzgerald said. She then rejoined the Labour Party in 1986. 

Despite losing several times she did not lose hope and ran again in 1992. 

“My fifth attempt at running for the Dáil was in 1992, where I topped the poll not only in the constituency, but received the highest vote in the country of any candidate that year. I was an overnight success on my fifth try!” said Fitzgerald  

Fitzgerald didn’t lose hope as this was what she wanted. “I felt I could make a difference, and I suppose having trained as an economist and having worked inside the public service, I knew how to make change,” she said.  

Being part of the Dail presented her with more opportunities and challenges, like in 1993 when she had a dual role, she was appointed as minister for finance, and she also worked in the newly formed office of the Tánaiste.  

Freedom of Information 

One of Eithne Fitzgerald’s first pieces of legislation during her time working in the office of the Tánaiste was the freedom of information (FOI) legislation, which she and her fellow TDs wrote from scratch in 1992. 

Fitzgerald was asked to write the legislation of the FOI as “it was a big part of the manifesto. The Labour Party’s manifesto was about putting justice into economics and trust into politics. That was the phrase that was used,” she said.  

In writing the FOI they’ve had to take into consideration the British Official service act which was the preceding legislation before the FOI. “I knew that in changing this, that it wouldn’t work unless there was legislation behind it. You don’t change your culture overnight unless there are some strong guardrails,” Fitzgerald said.  

During this time, they have reviewed several legislations from other countries which were used as models in forming the Irish version of the FOI. They spoke with several politicians worldwide who were involved in creating their country’s FOI.  

Together with her team, they did thorough research on countries that have implemented their FOIs. “To do the nuts and bolts of the legislation, was a pure joy. It was delightful to do it. I was able to get my teeth into some research and there was less opposition to it,” she said.  

In creating the legislation there was opposition to it as the FOI will be allowing the public to access vital information. “A lot of stuff that had to be dragged into the light,” Fitzgerald said.  

The Fianna Fail party originally didn’t accept that there would be a Freedom of Information act but said that it should just be considered. Fitzgerald and her team took this as an opportunity to further their research and push through with the legislation.  

“What we wanted to see was the practice change towards automatic publication of what should be published,” she said.  

The first legislation of the Freedom of Information Act was first approved in 1997. “My proudest achievement is the Freedom of Information Act,” Fitzgerald said.  

End of an Era 

In 1997 Eithne Fitzgerald ran for the Dail elections for the sixth time but unfortunately, she lost her seat.  

At this time there were two local issues that affected Fitzgeralds’ campaign “One would have been my support for the travelers, and the second one was about a school in Knocklyon in County Dublin,” she said.  

Fitzgerald once again tried to run for national government in 2002, but she failed to garner enough votes to be re-elected.  

After her seventh run she decided to throw in the towel and move on from politics.  

Eithne Fitzgerald, though not in politics, is still in public service; she is currently working for the National Disability Authority.“I love the work, and I love the job,” she said.  

Reflecting on her journey as a politician, Fitzgerald learned that

“I suppose the people are your employers. They can vote you in with a big vote. They can vote you out with another vote. That’s democracy. It’s very personal when it happens, but you get on with life and there is a life after politics”

-Eithne Fitzgerald