Nora Owen is a former Irish Fine Gael politician. She was a Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin North from 1981 to 1987 and from 1989 to 2002. She also served as Minister for Justice from 1994 to 1997.
Nora was first elected to Dublin County Council in 1979 for the Malahide local electoral area. She was later elected as a Fine Gael TD for the first time in 1981, serving until the 1987. She returned to Dáil Éireann in 1989, becoming Deputy Leader of Fine Gael in 1993. The following year she became Minister for Justice, remaining in that post until 1997. In the aftermath of the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin in 1996, Owen introduced the highly successful Criminal Assets Bureau to crack down on organised crime.
Nora served as a member of the executive of Trócaire in 1987. In September 2011, she was appointed by the Minister of State for Trade and Development, Jan O’Sullivan, T.D., as the Chair of the Irish Aid Expert Advisory Group. In February 2012 she was made Vice President of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland.
Nora has also hosted current affairs programmes on TV and during the summer of 2012 she presented the Irish version of Celebrity Mastermind on TV3. She currently presents Midweek on TV3.
Nora is one of the longest serving members of Special Olympics Ireland’s Council of Patrons. In 2003, she was a key volunteer in the organisation of the Special Olympics World Summer Games which were held in Dublin. Since then she has been a loyal supporter and volunteer with Special Olympics Ireland
