Profile: Joan Burton (Lab)

Joan Burton (67) topped the poll in Dublin West in 2011. The accountant and former lecturer, who is married with one daughter, was first elected to the Dáil in 1992. She lost the seat five years later but regained it in 2002. She was finance spokeswoman for the Labour Party and consistently clashed with former minister for finance Brian Lenihan and former taoiseach Brian Cowen. Burton served as a minister of state in the rainbow coalition between 1992 and 1997 in two departments. She has been Minister for Social Protection in the Fine Gael and Labour coalition since 2011. Burton was deputy leader of her party until 2014 when she was elected leader after the resignation of Eamon Gilmore. She was appointed Tánaiste and one of her first roles was to renegotiate a programme for government and re-shuffle her Cabinet, sacking Gilmore and senior ministers Pat Rabbitte and Ruairí Quinn.