Former well-known local TD, Mary O'Rourke, dies

Former Fianna Fáil TD Mary O’Rourke has died at the age of 87.

Ms O’Rourke was a member of a famous Athlone political dynasty, the Lenihans.

She represented Longford-Westmeath in the Dáil and was deputy leader of Fianna Fáil between 1994 and 2002.

Over the course of a political career spanning almost forty years, she served as Minister for Education, Minister for Health and Minister for Public Expenditure.

She was a sister of Brian Lenihan, a former Tánaiste, and aunt of the late former Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan.

Mrs O'Rourke got her first taste of representative politics in 1974 when she was elected to Athlone Urban District Council.

Five years later, she secured a seat on Westmeath County Council, followed by a seat in the Seanad.

She continued to teach full-time at Summerhill College while working in local politics.

Ms O'Rourke was first elected as a TD for Longford-Westmeath in November 1982, and would go on to serve as the Minister for Education, Health and Public Enterprise.

She served in the cabinets of Haughey and later Bertie Ahern, and was the party's deputy leader and a central figure in the Fianna Fáil government from 1997 to 2002.

After losing her seat in 2002, she was nominated to the Seanad by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern where she was appointed leader of the House. She returned to the Dáil in 2007, but lost her seat in 2011.

After politics she continued to maintain a high public profile, writing and broadcasting.

Her husband Enda died in 2001. The couple had two sons, Feargal and Aengus, and six grandchildren.

Aengus is a Fianna Fáil councillor in Athlone.