Verona Murphy’s journey from truck driver to Dail history maker

Former trucker Verona Murphy has travelled an often rocky road to one of the most prestigious destinations in Irish politics.

The 53-year-old from Co Wexford arrived at the Ceann Comhairle’s chair in the Dail chamber only five years after a troubled by-election campaign that, in her own words, saw her “cancelled” and branded a “national pariah”.

The irony of her elevation to the speaker’s role is that it came with the fulsome backing of Fine Gael, the party that dumped her as a candidate for the 2020 general election.

Five years after former Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar said he was glad Ms Murphy had failed to win a seat for his own party, his successor Simon Harris welcomed her formal confirmation as the first female Ceann Comhairle in the Dail’s 100-plus year history.

“I know you will serve with diligence, with impartiality and with decency,” the Taoiseach declared.

Her acrimonious split with Fine Gael in 2019 came after she ran for the party in a by-election campaign during which she was heavily criticised for comments she made about asylum seekers.

Ms Murphy, who is a mother of one from Ramsgrange in Co Wexford, apologised for the remarks and conceded she had chosen her words poorly after suggesting some migrants arriving in Ireland may need to be “deprogrammed” amid her concerns that they may have been influenced by Isis.

Despite defeat in the by-election and the subsequent hammer blow of being dropped from the Fine Gael ticket for the February 2020 general election, Ms Murphy pressed ahead with her venture into the world of politics and went on to win a seat in Wexford as an independent.

In last month’s election, again running as an independent, she topped the poll in the constituency, having built a sizeable and loyal local support base.

A political journey that has seen her defy expectations and break new ground is in some ways a microcosm of her wider life experience.

One of 11 children, Ms Murphy left school at 16 and moved to England, where she worked in a Vauxhall motor factory by day and a McDonald’s restaurant at night.

She returned to Ireland when she was 18 and bought her first refrigerated truck when she was 21.

She then decided to do a law degree and, in order to do so, picked up her school level studies in her mid-30s to complete her Leaving Certificate.

Securing a BA in law in 2010, she also forged a successful career in the haulage industry, running her own transportation company up until 2021.

In 2015, she became only the second woman ever to be appointed president of the Irish Road Haulage Association.

That gave her a prominent national profile at a time when so much political focus was on issues related to cross-border trade and transportation due to the 2016 Brexit referendum.

She soon garnered a reputation as a straight-talking operator in media appearances – something that brought her to the attention of Fine Gael and ultimately led to her ill-fated electoral foray under the party banner.

Ms Murphy has certainly maintained that robust approach since being elected to the Dail, particularly when questioning witnesses appearing before Oireachtas committees.

To what degree the outspoken backbencher softens that style for the diplomatic requirements of the Ceann Comhairle’s office remains to be seen.