Heather Humphreys

Heather Maud Humphreys (née Stewart; born 1960) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician and credit union manager. A Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cavan–Monaghan constituency from 2011 to 2024, she held multiple cabinet positions from July 2014 to January 2025 and was deputy leader of Fine Gael from April to October 2024. She was Fine Gael's candidate in the 2025 Irish presidential election.

Humphreys began her political career serving on Monaghan County Council from 2003 to 2011. Elected to Dáil Éireann at the 2011 general election, she was first appointed to cabinet in July 2014 as Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Her other ministerial positions included serving as Minister for Social Protection from 2000 to 2025 and temporarily as Minister for Justice while her colleague Helen McEntee took maternity leave. In October 2024, she announced her decision to retire from politics, and did not contest the 2024 general election.

After Mairead McGuinness withdrew from the 2025 Irish presidential election, Fine Gael nominated Humphreys as its candidate. She received 29.5 percent of the vote and conceded the election to Catherine Connolly, who received 63.4 percent.

Heather Maud Stewart was born in the village of Drum, County Monaghan, in 1960. She grew up on a farm with her paternal grandparents, her parents, and her two younger brothers. She is a Presbyterian; her father was a member of the Orange Order, while her grandfather, Robert James Stewart, signed the Ulster Covenant opposing Home Rule in 1912. She has recalled being taken to Orange Order parades as a child, but stated that she stopped attending when the Troubles broke out. She also recalled being impacted by the death of Billy Fox, a Protestant Fine Gael politician from near Ballybay in County Monaghan, who was killed by the Provisional IRA in 1974.

She was educated at St. Aidan's Comprehensive School in Cootehill, County Cavan. After leaving school in 1978, she began working for Ulster Bank in Dublin. In 1987, she married Eric Humphreys, a farmer from Dernaroy, near Newbliss, County Monaghan. Eric had also been a member of the Orange Order, although he had ceased his involvement before they met. The couple have two daughters, Eva and Tara.

In 1999, Humphreys became manager of Cootehill Credit Union, a position she held until 2011. In 2015, her younger daughter Tara, then aged 19, was involved in a serious road accident close to her family home after a car in which she was travelling swerved into a tree. Tara spent nine days in a coma but later recovered. Her older daughter Eva served on Monaghan County Council from 2017 to 2018 but resigned the position, citing the demands of her legal career. Humphreys has three grandchildren by Eva.

Following the abolition of the dual mandate in 2003, Humphreys was co-opted onto Monaghan County Council in succession to Seymour Crawford. She was elected in her own right at the 2004 local elections and once again following the 2009 local elections. She was elected as Mayor of Monaghan County in 2009. While a member of the council, she served as chair of the council's Strategic Policy Committee on Planning and Economic Development.

Humphreys was elected as a Fine Gael TD for Cavan–Monaghan at the 2011 general election. She was the only Presbyterian member of the Oireachtas during her tenure.