Mary and Liz have volumes of work lined up since retiring

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY of Mary O’Rourke has been given a tentative publication date of October 19th. The former Fianna Fáil minister has been slaving away on her memoirs for the past year and publisher Gill Macmillan is hoping it will be in the shops in good time for the Christmas market.

“We’re in the final stages now,” O’Rourke tells us. “The title is proving difficult. I’ll have to settle on one pretty quick.” She isn’t giving much away about the contents. “There are a lot of interesting vignettes and I think it will shed a bit of light on a lot of things.”

So should anyone, politicians or otherwise, worry about its imminent publication? “That’s up to the solicitor to sort out,” she replies. Which sounds promising.

O’Rourke isn’t the only ex-TD and deputy party leader who has been busy writing since leaving national politics.

Liz McManus, former Labour deputy leader, is hard at work finishing her second novel. She was in Trinity College on Thursday night for the launch of A Thoroughly Good Blue (Never Simple Press), an anthology of new writing from students on this year’s M.Phil in creative writing course.

McManus, who retired from politics at the last general election having held a seat in Wicklow for 19 years, is among them.

An extract from her unfinished novel, The Disappeared, is in the collection, which was launched by Skippy Dies author Paul Murray.

McManus began the internationally renowned course last September and will finish in August. Competition for the 15 places on offer was keen, with 140 writers from all over the world applying for a place.

“I wasn’t very confident I would get in, so I was thrilled to be accepted,” says the former minister for housing, who was a published writer before she became a TD.

“It’s wonderful. I’m totally immersed in writing, going back to that frame of mind again and enjoying it immensely.”

McManus is working on her novel as part of the course at the Oscar Wilde Centre in Trinity.

Will the political memoirs come next? “I’m a fiction writer,” she insists, ruling out a tell-all account of her years at the often turbulent heart of Labour politics.

She remains a member of her local branch in Bray and intends to hit the doorsteps seeking a Yes vote in the referendum, now that the book launch is out of the way.