FORMER FINE GAEL Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy has announced that he is publishing a memoir of his time in office. 

The book, titled ‘Running From Office’, promises to offer an “unflinching insight” into the role of a government minister. 

Delighted to share that my memoir ‘Running From Office’ is now available for pre-order. Please click here https://t.co/QDNQHaQaN6 pic.twitter.com/wwwfbuYbn8

— Eoghan Murphy (@MurphyEoghan) August 15, 2024

The memoir will detail in “searing honestly the personal and political cost when ambition and idealism clash with circumstances outside of your control”.

The blurb for the book reads: “As Ireland’s Minister for Housing, Eoghan Murphy took on one of the toughest briefs in government, one that continues to be a challenge today.

“Looking back at his life in the build-up to parliamentary office and at his time in the cabinet, Eoghan brings a self-lacerating and deeply personal view of the life of a modern politician trying – and ultimately failing – to make the positive change he hoped to deliver.”

It continues: “Brutal and sometimes harrowing, Eoghan’s tale is also surprisingly funny, though the humour is only ever at the author’s expense.

If, in the end, all political careers end in failure, why didn’t anyone tell the author that? There are no heroes or villains here, just a person facing their own limitations as they navigate the unfamiliar world of campaigns, elected office and government responsibility.

“Bringing refreshing candour to the pressures and absurdity of politics, this book shows us who our politicians really are when there’s nothing left to spin and no one there to spin it to.”

Murphy was Housing Minister from 2017 to 2020 during Leo Varadkar’s tenure as Taoiseach. His time in the housing brief was marred with criticism over worsening homelessness and the high cost of housing.

He survived two votes of no confidence while Minister. 

He was first elected to the Dáil in 2011. In April 2021 Murphy announced his shock resignation from the Dáil. 

At the time, the TD for Dublin Bay South said it was because he wished to pursue a career in international affairs.

During his time as Housing Minister, Murphy introduced provisions that allowed for the development of controversial “co-living” properties in 2018. He received significant backlash for suggesting that such spaces, where tenants shared kitchens and other facilities, were like “very trendy” boutique hotels.

Planning permission for new co-living developments were subsequently banned by Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien in November 2020. 

Just yesterday, the Dublin Inquirer reported that a recently opened co-living development in Dublin city (which was granted planning permission before the ban) has been advertising rooms on Booking.com for short-term holiday stays.