Who will be Ireland’s “first gentleman” accompanying his wife – either Fine Gael candidate Heather Humphreys or Independent candidate Catherine Connolly – into Áras an Uachtárain following Friday’s presidential ballot?
Eric Humphreys, husband of Fine Gael candidate Heather Humphreys
Heather Stewart met her future husband, Eric Humphreys, at a dance in a local hall in Co Monaghan in 1979. She noticed that he was a good dancer.
As he graduated from dance partner to life partner, the private Humphreys has remained a steadfast supporter of his wife’s political career.
Both almost forgot their 38th wedding anniversary earlier this month when it fell in the middle of the chaos of the presidential campaign.
Humphreys has long been a source of counsel and support to his wife. When she was first approached by the late Seymour Crawford, the local Fine Gael politician, who asked her to run for local politics in 2003, she sought her husband’s advice.
“Well, opportunities come to pass, not to pause,” he had told her.
Over the course of her career, Humphreys would always tell her that if she wanted to go for something, then she should.
The media-shy Humphreys was star
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