Fionnuala Kenny
| Fionnuala Kenny | |
|---|---|
| Spouse of the Taoiseach | |
|
In office 9 March 2011 – 14 June 2017 |
|
| President |
Mary McAleese Michael D. Higgins |
| Taoiseach | Enda Kenny |
| Preceded by | Mary Cowen |
| Succeeded by | Matthew Barrett (Domestic Partner) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Fionnuala Bríd O'Kelly 1 March 1956 Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Political party | Fine Gael |
| Spouse(s) | Enda Kenny (m. 1992) |
| Children |
|
| Alma mater | |
Fionnuala Bríd Kenny (born 1 March 1956; née O'Kelly) is an Irish public relations specialist and the wife of former Taoiseach Enda Kenny. She is a former press officer for the Fianna Fáil Party.
In March 1987, Kenny became the first woman to head the Irish Government Information Service, a position she held until 1990. She then served as the head of public affairs at Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), beginning in 1990. She has been described by the media as Kenny's "best asset" and his "secret weapon."
Kenny, the daughter of two civil servants, was born Fionnuala O'Kelly in 1956 in Clontarf, Dublin. She was educated at St Louis College (St Louis Secondary School) in County Monaghan. She then studied French and German at University College Dublin. O'Kelly received her master's degree in French from Nancy-Université in Nancy, France.
Once she returned to Ireland, she enrolled in a public relations course which was offered by AnCo, an agency which later became part of the present-day Foras Áiseanna Saothair (FÁS). O'Kelly applied for a public relations position, which was advertised in a newspaper for a ""national organisation." She only discovered that the organisation mentioned in the employment ad was Fianna Fáil, one of Ireland's two major political parties, once she had been offered a job interview. She won the job, despite an intimidating encounter with Charles Haughey during the interview, and became Fianna Fáil's press officer at Leinster House. She worked under Haughey, the Leader of Fianna Fáil and Taoiseach from 1979 to 1981, 1982, and 1987 to 1992, for much of the next decade. O'Kelly put together the photographs published in "The Spirit of the Nation: the Speeches and Statements of Charles J Haughey (1957-86)," a book edited by Martin Mansergh.
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