I grew up on a farm just outside a little village called Drum which is on the border between Monaghan and Cavan. My father was Freddie and my mother was Emily. I was the only girl and I had two younger brothers, Bert and Alan.

It was very much a working farm. If you ever said you were bored, you’d quickly be given a job to do! My mother was a great, hardworking woman and she taught me from an early age, that there was no job I couldn’t take on. And so I did everything: I milked the cows; I could drive a tractor; I helped with the hay; I fed the calves and a lot, lot more. You’re never idle living on a farm, there’s always work to be done.

My father was an only son and so we lived on the farm with my grandparents. I have very fond memories of the three generations of us all living under the same roof. I was 18 when my grandfather died, and my grandmother died a few years later. When I look back, I wish I had asked them more questions about what life was like when they were young. You only realise these things when you get older and unfortunately none of us can turn the clock back.

I went to National School in Drum. It was a small – one teacher – rural school. In fact there was only one other person in my class. When the time came for secondary school, I went to St Aidan’s Comprehensive, a Community School in Cootehill. It was a multi-denominational school and we got a great education – it was the making of me.

When I finished school, I went to work in the Ulster Bank and later I worked as Manager of Cootehill Credit Union. The Credit Union is very much rooted in the community and it’s all about serving the people. People would come in looking for help with different things, it might be a small loan to help with back to school costs or maybe the car needed to be fixed. In the Credit Union, you got to know people and you got to know the challenges they face and the issues that people sometimes need a little help with.

I got involved in politics by complete accident. The late TD, Seymour Crawford, was looking to find somebody to replace him on Monaghan County Council. A neighbour mentioned my brother, Bert, to him. Bert was involved in the IFA and Seymour was a big farmer so he thought he had found his man. Just as he was leaving, the neighbour said: What about Heather? She works in the Credit Union. Seymour left the house with two names and as he drove down the road; he thought left for Bert; right for Heather. Luckily for me, Seymour was ahead of his time – he said to himself we need more women in politics and so he turned for my house. That’s how I ended up in politics.

I served on Monaghan County Council from 2003 – 2011 when I was elected to Dáil Éireann. As a first time TD, I, like most of the country, was taken by complete surprise when I was appointed to Cabinet in 2014. I have been fortunate to serve in Cabinet for over ten years across a range of different ministries. Whether it was leading the 2016 Commemorations; supporting businesses through Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic; enacting legislation for Auto Enrolment and Pay Related Benefit; rolling out Hot Meals to Primary schools or supporting our rural communities, I always enjoyed the job and I always loved meeting and talking to people.

I’m very fortunate to have a great family behind me who understand the importance of public service. I’m married to Eric and we have two daughters Eva and Tara and I’m very fortunate to have gained two great sons in law, Sean and Gerard. I have two beautiful grandchildren, Arthur (4) and Charlotte (1). My youngest daughter, Tara, is actually expecting her first baby this month so it is certainly a very exciting time at home at the moment.