Mairead McGuinness is a woman of many talents. She is a Fine Gael MEP, a mother, vice-chair of the European People’s Party (EPP) group in the European Parliament and a farmer’s wife. In all these roles she is motivated, determined and resilient – traits that she learned from her mother, Mella, who passed away last year.

“I was always close to both my parents, but when my mother passed away last year, it was absolutely devastating. She really was an inspiring woman, bright and motivated. She achieved a great deal in her lifetime, both personally and professionally as a farmer, despite facing great adversity,” says Mairead.

“My father injured himself in a shooting accident as a young man and our house was gutted by a fire in 1960. I was the youngest at the time. I was still in the pram, inside the house, when the fire broke out. My mother had to break the straps to get me out and was severely burned on her legs.

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“I think that was a turning point for them. If you lose everything, but save lives nothing else seems to matter. They moved the family – all five children aged from five to under one – into the cowshed, started from scratch and just got on with it,” Mairead recalls.

A Growing Farm

At the time, the farm supplied just fruit and vegetables to the market in Dundalk, but the family diversified over the years.

Mairead says: “In the early ’60s, they started milking cows and to this day my brother Gerry runs the dairy farm. Poultry was always a part of the farm business, laying hens and then turkeys for the Christmas market. In those days you could slaughter and eviscerate birds on a farm, and we supplied turkeys to families far and near.”

Because Mella didn’t get the opportunity to go to college, she was determined that her children would and Mairead was the first woman to graduate from Agricultural Economics at UCD. The world of agricultural journalism captured her, in the Irish Farmers Journal and then on RTÉ’s television series Ear To The Ground, but it has been her role in politics that has really defined her.

Agricultural Agenda

The top of Mairead’s agenda has always been agriculture, although she has diversified her interests in recent years.

“In life, I tend to say ‘what the hell’ rather than ‘what if’, and I remember having that attitude when I decided to run for election in 2004, even though it was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done.”

The enthusiasm and passion she displays when talking about her work clearly conveys that it was one of the best decisions she ever made.

Mairead is probably most known for her work on the Agriculture Committee, and she was one of the lead negotiators on CAP reform.

“It involved countless weeks, months and years of negotiations – formal and informal. I had to literally keep my ear to the ground, politically speaking. It was an amazing experience, sometimes frustrating, but hugely rewarding and important from an Irish perspective.”

Furthermore, in her time as an MEP, the European Parliament has become more influential and powerful, with co-decisions on key policies, including agriculture, and budgets.

“It was great to be at the centre of the farm talks, and to sit opposite the Council, represented by Minister Simon Coveney.”

in Brussels

Mairead’s work in agriculture is just the tip of the iceberg.

“Today I am vice chair of the EPP Group. I was elected by my peers, and being from a small member state I felt it was a great achievement that allowed me to broaden my horizons. I’m also a member of the environment and food safety, public health committee. Right now we are rewriting legislation on medical devices. This is very removed from agriculture, but I wanted to be involved in legislation that is of direct concern to the health of citizens.”

She has also worked on issues around financial regulation and chaired a committee of inquiry into the demise of the company Equitable Life, which left thousands of Irish and EU policy holders facing huge losses. On top of that, Mairead also has a particular interest in the problem of people with disabilities living in inappropriate institutions.

Mairead feels all this experience has really sharpened her political skills.

“Politics isn’t just about good ideas. Unless you can persuade other people and get their support for your views, you are at nothing. Politics is all about persuasion, perseverance, being open to compromise and willing to listen. I think people in politics need time to analyse, reflect and then comment, rather than commenting first and doing everything else afterwards.”

Looking Ahead

It is away from Brussels, in her home farm in Meath, where Mairead finds the space and time to do that.

“Walking the fields with Sam, our sheep dog, is particularly enjoyable and I make my best decisions on those walks.”

That’s not to say that her days at home are quiet. Mairead and her husband Tom (Duff) have four children: twins Orlaith and James (19), Áine (16) and Cathal (12). Mairead believes that, whether she is talking to the audience at the Women & Agriculture Conference or to her children, looking ahead is the key to success – advice she got from her own mother.

“It’s really important to look up and ahead, to take pride in whatever you do, whether it’s milking cows, ironing or caring. My husband is a farmer, but he is also hugely active in the parish. The contribution that he and others like him make in their own quiet way is enormous. Without the likes of him there would be no local committees or coaching for children. What I do is important, but what he does is equally important. We are a bit like my own parents – well matched.” CL