In October 2024, Heather Humphreys was Fine Gael’s deputy leader and Minister for Social Protection before she took the decision to not seek re-election and instead spend more time with her family.

However, things move fast in politics and after party colleague Mairead McGuinness pulled out of the race for the Irish presidency on health grounds, the door was open for a presidential bid.

Humphreys said that after a “good rest” she had decided to go for it.

Humphreys first came on to the political scene when she was co-opted onto Monaghan County Council in 2003.

She went on to retain her seat in 2004 and 2009 and was elected as a TD for Cavan-Monaghan in 2011 when Fine Gael won the election of that year and went into government.

Three years later in 2014, she was brought into Cabinet by then Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny.

She was appointed Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht during a Cabinet reshuffle and went on to become Minister for Business and Enterprise in 2017.

In 2020, she took on the roles of both Minister for Rural and Community Development and Minister for Social Protection, and also held the Justice brief for around six months in 2021 while then Minister Helen McEntee was on maternity leave.

Humphreys was born in the village of Drum in Co Monaghan and is a Presbyterian.

While she wouldn’t be the first Protestant president, she would be the first Presbyterian one.

On the campaign trail, she has said that coming from a “minority tradition” will allow her to reach out to others and “deepen understandings”.

She has previously described herself as “a proud Ulsterwoman, a Protestant and an Irish republican".

Speaking at her campaign launch, Humphreys said she "definitely" wants to see a united Ireland and is "committed to that".

“When people from the unionist background look at me, I can honestly say to them this country has given me everything I have, it has made me what I am.

"I am an example of a tolerant, inclusive Ireland that can accommodate different traditions and different viewpoints."

However, in recent weeks she has come under scrutiny in some quarters around her and her family’s participation in Orange Order events.

The Orange Order is a British unionist and conservative organisation that was founded in the late 1700s.

At her campaign launch, Humphreys said she attended Orange Order parades with her parents, calling it a “family day out” and a “cultural day” for attendees.

She added that “things have moved on a lot”, outlining that she has attended St Patrick’s Day parades in Cootehill, Co Cavan, “when Orange bands from Northern Ireland took part in those parades”.

“For some people, you can't be a Protestant and want a united Ireland,” Fine Gael TD David Maxwell told The Journal.

Maxwell is a Fine Gael TD for Cavan-Monaghan and won the seat that Humphreys vacated when she stepped down from the Dáil last year.

He’s known Humphreys for around 30 years and has worked with her for the past two decades.

“And if you're a Protestant, some people would be aghast that a Protestant would be pushing for a united Ireland,” he added.

Maxwell himself is a Protestant and said he has been “disappointed in some of the comments about Heather and her Protestant heritage”.

“That cohort of people seemingly think that because you're a Protestant, you shouldn't be the president of Ireland. Thank God that's a minority view, I think.”

He added that Humphreys’ background will “stand to her” because “when she goes north of the border, you have that inner workings into those sort of areas”.

“You're showing people that Ireland is not this all consuming giant that wants to engulf Northern Ireland and get rid of Protestantism or unionism and banish it.

“We need to show all sides that there's nothing to fear in a united Ireland and everybody can practice their religion freely and openly.”

During the presidential campaign, Humphreys has also faced questions regarding her record on animal rights.

In 2017, she passed on a letter to the Department of Agriculture on behalf of a farmer who was under investigation for animal cruelty.

The farmer, who had a previous conviction for animal cruelty, was facing prosecution for mistreating cattle – the case was later dropped.

In a presidential debate on Newstalk, Humphreys said she did not know the farmer personally and simply “glanced” at the letter before passing it to the minister.

“I made no recommendation; there was no cover letter with that letter,” she said.

Her Fine Gael colleague David Maxwell told The Journal that the incident was “regurgitated, I suppose, in some way to damage Heather”.

However, Social Democrats TD Garry Gannon criticised Humphreys for saying she "simply forwarded on a letter on behalf of an animal abuser, but then asserts that she wasn’t in a position to assist more when a grieving family sought justice for their beloved son".

Gannon was making a reference to Lucia O’Farrell, whose son Shane was killed in a hit-and-run in Monaghan in 2011 by a man who was out on bail at the time.

After relentless campaigning by Shane’s family, the government issued a State apology for failings in the criminal justice system in relation to Shane’s death.

Lucia has been vocal in her view that Humphreys did not adequately support the family while she was their TD.

Responding to Lucia’s remarks during the debate on Newstalk, Humphreys said she did make representations on Lucia’s behalf, that she “did her best”, and that she is “sorry if she thinks I didn’t do enough.”

Meanwhile, Humphreys is also facing scrutiny over her record on fox hunting.

She has described fox hunting as a “rural pursuit” which is “controlled, supervised, and part of rural Ireland”.

“Fox hunting, shooting, fishing, all that, it's part of rural Ireland,” said Maxwell.

While he said some people are “against all of it and want it stopped”, he also said there are “plenty of people who want to continue that pursuit” and that it’s a “balancing act”.

“If you look at it, horse racing would be banned, greyhound racing, every rural pursuit would be gone.

“In some people's eyes, and maybe they're right, that would be good but I don't think so."

Humphreys has come a long way from her time as a Clones councillor, but Maxwell said he didn’t necessarily have Humphreys marked out as someone who would go on to hold big positions.

However, he said Humphreys “had a common sense way to look at things”.

“It was a big surprise in 2014 when she was plucked out of the back benches and given her first ministerial role and then successive taoisigh kept her there.

“She took that rural, common sense, take no crap type of mentality into the minister’s role, which I suppose was maybe something that hadn't been seen in a good number of years in the Dáil.”

The Journal also spoke to Fianna Fáil councillor Seamus Coyle.

While he worked alongside Humphreys on the County Council from 2004, a shake up of the local electoral areas saw him join Humphreys in the Clones chamber in 2009.

He said the majority of people in Monaghan “will be wishing her continued success and hope to see her in the Áras”.

When asked if it was obvious to him in the council chamber that Humphreys would go on to big things, Coyle pointed to her “ability to work on the ground to help people”.

“She just has a good personality for the job from having worked in Ulster Bank and then in the Credit Unions.”

He added that as “we build towards a united Ireland, we must unite the people of all denominations and all backgrounds" and that "somebody from the border region will have a benefit in doing that".

The Journal spoke to Coyle before Jim Gavin dramatically withdrew from the presidential election.

When asked if he would be voting for Gavin, Coyle played his cards close to his chest.

However, when The Journal reached out to Coyle once more after Gavin’s withdrawal, he was free to say that he is “definitely voting for Heather”.

Humphreys has grown into the campaign as it has worn on, seeming to struggle in the early skirmishes but becoming notably more combative in the latter stages.

She has perhaps struggled to bring her personality into the race while her Áras rival Catherine Connolly has been wowing the public with her keepie-uppies.

During an RTÉ debate, Connolly's soccer skills were noted as her "party piece" but Humphreys admitted that she doesn't "really have any party pieces".

Asked if she has any hidden talents, Humphreys said her best skill set is listening and that she is a “people person”.

Humphreys has also pledged that, as president, she would be the voice of the often overlooked volunteers that are the backbone of rural communities, such as those involved in the GAA and Tidy Towns committees.

She has also been finding her own voice on the campaign trail and has sought to pitch herself as a centrist, pro-business, “common sense” candidate.

However, she faces an uphill battle to succeed in the 24 October election - not only do the polls show her trailing, but bookmakers Paddy Power has also seen enough to pay out early on those backing Connolly.