Liz McManus

Elizabeth "Liz" McManus (born 23 March 1947) is a former Irish politician. She served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wicklow constituency from 1992 to 2011.

Early life and writing career

McManus was born in 1947 in Montreal, Canada. She studied Architecture at University College Dublin, where she shared a drawing desk with Ruairi Quinn. McManus is an accomplished writer. She won the Hennessy, Listowel and Irish Pen awards in fiction. Her first novel Acts of Subversion was nominated for the Aer Lingus/Irish Times Literature Prize. McManus was also a weekly columnist with the Sunday Tribune (1986–1992).

Political career

She first ran for political office in 1979 when she was elected to Bray Town Council for the Sinn Féin the Workers' Party. Later, she was elected to Wicklow County Council. She helped establish a women's refuge in Bray in 1978 and was its convenor until 1991.

McManus was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1992 general election. She was then a member of the Democratic Left party. She retained her seat in every subsequent election until her retirement in 2011. Between 1994 and 1997 the Democratic Left formed a government with Fine Gael and the Labour Party and McManus became Minister of State for Housing and Urban Renewal. During this period she was also a member of the Northern Ireland Forum for Peace and Reconciliation.