This article is from page 34 of the 2008-04-29 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 34 JPG
THE daughter of a prominent west Clare politician is set to become a familiar face among legal circles in ETc
27-year-old Marina Keane is be- coming a regular fixture in district court sittings across the county, hav- ing qualified as a solicitor at Black- hall Place last year.
The Kilkee woman is the daughter of Fianna Fail county councillor and former county mayor Patrick Keane.
While she is currently making a name for herself in legal circles, she has long been well-known in Kilkee, through her involvement in several projects.
Among those is her involvement in the Kilkee Housing Association and Friends of Regina House.
Although her work with Michael Houlihan Solicitors in Ennis is keep- ing her very busy, she still finds time to dedicate to those community groups.
Referring to her work with the Housing Association over the past seven years, which is overseeing 29 units of accommodation and a daycare centre on Circular Road in Kilkee, she said, “This will provide housing for the elderly and the disa- bled. There is very much a need for this at the moment.”
Marina, who recently got engaged to her childhood sweetheart Micheal Keane, grew up in a very busy house- hold where she and her brother D1- armuid (20) were encouraged to get involved in community initiatives.
Her mother Margaret is the local postmistress, while her father has
a deep involvement with the local GAA club, along with his endless work in political life.
“My father has always encouraged us to get involved in the community. My mum is centrally involved in the community and dad has been a county councillor since 1991. There is always something going on in our house. From Yam to 5.30pm it is the post office and in the evenings and weekends, dad deals with queries,’ she said.
And while her work life is based in Ennis, her heart will also be in her native Kilkee.
“I love Kilkee. That is where my heart is. I love going home to Kil- kee,’ she enthused.
Marina’s name was mooted as a possible candidate in last year’s gen- eral election, but it did not material-
ise. Although she has been a member of Ogra Fianna Fail in Clare since she was 19, she doesn’t have any im- mediate plans to enter politics.
“At the time, people were looking for a young professional female. It didn’t suit me at the time. I was stud- ying for exams. I am still very much focused on my career. I was never se- riously considering putting my name forward. I will certainly be backing up my father as much as I can,” she rene
For the moment, Marina has plenty on her hands with her legal work . . . along with fixing a date for her wed- ding day.