Running From Office

‘A wonderfully engaging, honest and witty portrait of the humiliations, idealism, nobility and banality of democratic life’ – Rory Stewart, author of Politics on the Edge

‘Wryly self-deprecating, but also informative and illuminating’ – Matt Cooper

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 often failing – to make the positive change he hoped to deliver. 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.

Author Biography

Eoghan Murphy is an Irish former Fine Gael politician, who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for ten years, from 2011 until 27 April 2021, representing the Dublin Bay South constituency (previously named Dublin South-East).
He served as Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government from 2017 to 2020 and as Minister of State for Financial Services from 2016 to 2017.