Nationality Irish Constituency Dublin North Role Politician | Leader John Bruton Name Nora Owen Succeeded by John O'Donoghue Political party Fine Gael Party Fine Gael | |
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Born 1 June 1945 (age 78)
Dublin, Ireland ( 1945-06-01 ) | ||
Preceded by Maire Geoghegan-Quinn Education University College Dublin | ||
Powering Kindness with Nora Owen for Concern
Nora Owen (née O'Mahony; born 22 June 1945) is a former Irish Fine Gael politician and is the current presenter of TV3's topical programme Midweek. She was a Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin North from 1981 to 1987 and from 1989 to 2002. She also served as Minister for Justice from 1994 to 1997.
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Early life
Nora O'Mahony was born in Dublin in 1945. She is a sister of Mary Banotti and a grandniece of the Irish revolutionary leader Michael Collins. She was educated at Dominican Convent, County Wicklow and University College Dublin (UCD) where she qualified as an industrial chemist.
Political career
Owen was first elected to Dublin County Council in 1979 for the Malahide local electoral area. She was later elected as a Fine Gael TD for the first time in 1981, serving until the 1987 election when she lost her seat. That year she became a member of the executive of Trócaire. She returned to Dáil Éireann in 1989 becoming Deputy Leader of Fine Gael in 1993. The following year she became Minister for Justice, remaining in that post until 1997. Journalist Veronica Guerin was murdered in 1996 and in its aftermath Owen introduced the highly successful Criminal Assets Bureau to crack down on organised crime. In 2002 she became the first high-profile Fine Gael TD to lose her seat in Dublin North in the party's disastrous general election.
Post-political life
Owen is the patron of the Collins 22 Society, which works to keep the memory and legacy of Michael Collins in living memory. She occasionally works as an election pundit. In August 2011, it was announced she was to present the Irish version of Mastermind on TV3. In February 2012 she was made a Vice President of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland.