Tag Archives: Geraldine Gregan

CLARE Fine Gael held an event commemorating the granting of the right to vote to women at the Old Ground Hotel on Monday. Clare was the first constituency in the country to have a 50/50 male/female representation in the Dáil, this was following the election of Síle DeValera and Madeleine Taylor Quinn in 1987, along with Donal Carey and Brendan Daly. However, while there are constituencies nationally who have managed to have equal representation, it hasn’t happened again in Clare since. The event, entitled Vótàil100, after a new committee the party has formed featured guest speaker Maria Bailey TD, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, the 100th female TD to be in the Dáil. Also speaking at the event were former Clare TD Madeline Taylor-Quinn, Councillor Mary Howard, and Rebecca Gregan who stood for national president of Young Fine Gael this past year. The meeting was chaired by equality officer with the Clare Fine Gael executive, Geraldine Gregan. She outlined that the meeting discussed why …

Clarecastle resident Geraldine Gregan made the difficult decision to give her baby up for adoption, a decision she has regretted ever since. Her pregnancy as a single woman brought shame, she was branded as damaged goods and had to hide out half way across the country for the last month of her pregnancy, writes Carol Byrne. Originally from County Cork, Geraldine Gregan acquired a rare job as a quality manager in a dairy business in Cavan. After receiving a BSc in Dairy Science, her job security, being a single woman, was put in jeopardy when she became pregnant in the mid-1980s. “The relationship had ended when I realised I was pregnant. I felt a deep sense of guilt and sadness. It was so wrong and selfish of me to be bringing a baby into the world that would not have a dad. My own dad passed away when I was 16 and I still missed him. I also felt sadness for …