Irene Moreira


Irene Renée Moreira Fernández is a Uruguayan lawyer, rural businesswoman and politician of Open Cabildo serving as Minister of Housing, Territorial Planning and Environment of Uruguay since March 1, 2020.

Education

Moreira enrolled at the University of the Republic, where she studied three years of Law. However, after the birth of her children she dropped out of school. Later, she resumed her studies at the Catholic University and graduated from it.

Political career

She began her militancy for the National Party in the Artigas Department. There she served, for three periods, as deputy edila in the Artigas Departmental Board. From 2015 to 2020 she served as incumbent edila heading the 404 list of Luis Lacalle Pou. In that legislature she integrated the Committee on Culture and Gender.
In the 2014 general election, Moreira was a candidate for deputy in the Chamber of Representatives, without being elected.
In April 2019, after the foundation of Open Cabildo, Moreira decided to change her political affiliation to accompany her husband's presidential candidacy, so she left the National Party.
In the 2019 general election, she was a candidate for Senator of the Republic by Open Cabildo, being elected to the 49th Legislature. However, after the victory of Luis Lacalle Pou as President of Uruguay, she was appointed Minister of Housing, Territorial Planning and Environment, as a member of a party that makes up the electoral alliance, Coalición Multicolor. On February 15, 2020, she assumed her seat in the Senate pending her inauguration as head of the ministerial portfolio, on March 1. Her seat was occupied by Raúl Lozano, her first substitute.

Personal life

Daughter of Roque Moreira, a retired colonel from the Army, she first met Guido Manini Ríos at a wedding, when he was 21 and she was 15 years old. When she came of age, they entered into a relationship, and after three years they were married in the Seminary Church. Together they have two children: Bruno and Micaela.