{"id":579480,"date":"2026-08-01T23:15:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T23:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/579480\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T23:15:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T23:15:11","slug":"from-george-orwell-to-sci-fi-heres-what-irish-politicians-are-reading-over-the-summer-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/579480\/","title":{"rendered":"From George Orwell to sci-fi: Here’s what Irish politicians are reading over the summer holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"

WITH THE D\u00c1IL and European Parliament in recess from mid-July until mid-September, TDs and MEPs have a bit of extra time in their weeks to fill as they see fit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For many of them, this time is used to catch up on emails, constituency work and policy briefs that have been put on the long finger, but it also offers the opportunity to enjoy a bit of downtime ahead of the new term.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Journal, nosey as we are, caught up with TDs and MEPs to see what books they are turning to keep them entertained over the break.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The responses varied widely, and, as expected, for many of the politicians, were extremely on brand (Yes, Paul Murphy is reading a book about Marxism).\u00a0<\/p>\n

As it turns out, TDs and MEPs are really eager to talk about books, and we got too many responses to fit in one article. So we will be back next week with the rest of the summer reading lists.<\/p>\n

With thanks to everyone who came back to us.\n<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what people had to say:\u00a0<\/p>\n

A handful of TDs, including Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins, told us they were too busy to be reading for pleasure.<\/p>\n

Likewise, when asked what he has been reading, Fine Gael\u2019s newest TD Se\u00e1n Kyne said: \u201cE-mails and racing card thus far\u201d.<\/p>\n

We appreciate the honesty, Se\u00e1n.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Others, like Kerry TD Michael Healy Rae, told us he has been filling his spare time by writing his own book.<\/p>\n

This will be book number three for Healy-Rae, who said it will be a collection of short stories like his first two.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Minister for Nature Christopher O\u2019Sullivan, a well-known lover of birds, said he is reading \u2018The Sibley Field Guide to the Birds of North America<\/a>\u2018.<\/p>\n

His party colleague, Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin,\u00a0told us his approach to reading is to \u201cdip in and out of books\u201d.<\/p>\n

At the moment, he is working through\u00a01929: Inside the Crash by Andrew Sorkin; Can Europe Survive? by David Marshall;\u00a0JFK: Public, Private, Secret by\u00a0J. Randy Taraborrelli and Paul Murray\u2019s The Bee Sting.<\/p>\n

The Taoiseach said he also likes to have different poetry books on the go, and currently is turning to work by Cork poet Greg Delanty as well as\u00a0Sc\u00e1th\u00e1n V\u00e9arsai by fellow Corkman\u00a0Se\u00e1n \u00d3 R\u00edord\u00e1in.<\/p>\n

Keeping with the Cork theme, the Taoiseach also gave a mention to\u00a0C\u00f3nal Creedon\u2019s short fiction\u00a0Pancho And Lefty Ride Again<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Popular choices<\/p>\n

After initially stressing to us that she is \u201cnot on my laethanta saoire just yet\u201d, Sinn F\u00e9in leader Mary Lou McDonald told us she is working her way through John Steinbeck\u2019s Moon is Down; Katriona O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s award-winning memoir Poor; and Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke.\u00a0<\/p>\n

O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s Poor is a popular choice among politicians this summer, and is also being read by Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another popular book among the political class this summer is Jen Bray\u2019s The Lies Between Us.<\/a><\/p>\n

The best-selling crime fiction from the political editor of the Sunday Times has made the summer reading list of a number of politicians, including Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, Labour leader Ivana Bacik, Sinn F\u00e9in MEP Kathleen Funchion, Fine Gael TD Grace Boland and Independent TD Barry Heneghan.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bacik told us she had saved the book up for the holidays and is enjoying it so far.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve recently re-read the great new book \u2018The Woman in the Water\u2019 by Henrietta McKervey \u2013 a gripping read,\u201d Bacik added.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m now reading the new book by Sally Hayden \u2018This is not a love story\u2019 and looking forward to reading Doireann Ni Ghriofa\u2019s new book \u2018Said the Dead\u2019 \u2013 both writers whose previous books I\u2019ve read and really enjoyed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heneghan tells us he struggles to turn the phone off at night, but is \u201cloving\u201d Bray\u2019s book at the moment as well as\u00a0Manch\u00e1n Magan\u2019s Listen to the Land Speak.<\/p>\n

Likewise, Jen Bray\u2019s book was a hit with Boland, who described it as a \u201creal page turner\u201d. Next up on her list is Careless People by Meta whistleblower Sarah Wynn Williams.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Irish Times journalist Sally Hayden\u2019s latest book, \u2018This is Also a Love Story<\/a>\u2019, is also a popular choice among politicians this summer.<\/p>\n

Fine Gael TD James Geoghegan has it in his reading pile, as does Fianna F\u00e1il MEP Barry Andrews, who is also reading historian Roy Jenkins\u2019 biography of Churchill.<\/p>\n

\"unnamed\"
\n MEP Barry Andrews’ reading pile for the summer\n<\/p>\n

There were a handful of other books that kept coming up in the lists this summer and they were very much split along party lines: Many in Sinn F\u00e9in have been reading former Sinn F\u00e9in MEP Martina Anderson\u2019s soon-to-be-released memoir \u2018Choosing the Struggle\u2019.<\/p>\n

While many in Fianna F\u00e1il have been reading Se\u00e1n Lemass: The Lost Memoir<\/a> by Irish Times journalist\u00a0Ronan McGreevy.<\/p>\n

Another popular choice with both Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael this summer is Eoin O\u2019Malley\u2019s Charlie vs Garret.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Higher Education Minister James Lawless had both on his list, alongside Molly Nic C\u00e9ile\u2019s Gaeilge in Mo Chro\u00ed and The Lost Gaeltacht by Martin O\u2019Halloran.<\/p>\n

Lawless told The Journal he is just back from a long weekend in the Wicklow Gaeltacht on a Fuiseog course to improve his Irish, something he has been keen to do since becoming a minister.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"image
\n Minister James Lawless is using the D\u00e1il recess to brush up on his Irish\n<\/p>\n

Escape mode\u00a0<\/p>\n

A lot of politicians have chosen to stay away from the political books this summer, opting for pure escapism instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Labour\u2019s Ciar\u00e1n Ahern told us he has been \u201cterrible\u201d at reading the past few years but has been in a good flow recently.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI obviously read a lot of policy for my job, and I feel I need to disconnect from politics and the news, so I\u2019m reading things that are as far away from that as I can manage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m on a bit of a space\/sci-fi buzz at the moment. I went to see Project Hail Mary recently, loved it and then read the book by Andy Weir \u2013 Ryan Gosling goes on a space mission to save the Earth and befriends an alien on the way \u2013 what\u2019s not to love.<\/p>\n

\u201cI then read another book by Andy Weir called Artemis<\/a> \u2013 about a smuggler on a human colony on the moon who gets into all sorts of trouble!<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd now I\u2019m in the middle of Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid \u2013 a nice love story about astronauts in the 80s \u2013 I saw it recommended in my local library in Ballyroan and I\u2019m really enjoying that too,\u201d the Dublin South West TD said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Like Ahern, Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s Eoin\u00a0\u00d3 Broin has gone with a theme for his summer reading this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe holiday the last two weeks with friends, usually in the South of Spain and read a lot over the fortnight. I usually pick a subject or writer and buy 6 or so books and binge on that. This year it\u2019s Orwell,\u201d he told The Journal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"image
\n If you guessed Eoin \u00d3 Broin at the outset, you were right! Eoin \u00d3 Broin<\/p>\n

Eoin \u00d3 Broin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WITH THE D\u00c1IL and European Parliament in recess from mid-July until mid-September, TDs and MEPs have a bit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":579481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[627,61,60,244277,23882,43],"class_list":["post-579480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-book-club","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-irish-politicians","tag-leinster-house","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=579480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/579481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=579480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=579480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=579480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}