[1][7] Her father was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fine Gael TD at the 2005 Meath by-election, winning the seat vacated by the resignation of former Taoiseach John Bruton, and was a popular figure with constituents.

[4][9][10] One of the first issues on which she worked with her father was a campaign on behalf of the owners of several thousand houses damaged by the use of pyrite, a material used as backfill during construction, that expands when damp or exposed to air.

[1] His brother, Gerry, blamed cyberbullying through social media as a contributing factor in his suicide, and opposition politicians who had criticised him for comments he made about grant cuts to respite care.

[11] Fine Gael politician John Farrelly also suggested online abuse as a possible cause, but Helen McEntee has rejected this theory since she had managed her father's social media presence and was not aware of any issues.

"[14] McEntee was selected to stand as the Fine Gael candidate in the Meath East by-election during a party convention held at the Headfort Arms Hotel in Kells on 7 March 2013.

[1][15] During her campaign, McEntee expressed her wish to continue her father's work while seeking to be "a young fresh voice", and focused on issues such as emigration, employment, and supporting local business.

[4][16] She was joined on the campaign trail by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, who was confronted at a supermarket in Ratoath by an officer of the Garda Síochána angered at having to accept a pay cut because of austerity measures introduced by the government.

[17] McEntee participated in a televised debate on RTÉ One's Primetime on 25 March, along with Fianna Fáil candidate Thomas Byrne, Labour's Eoin Holmes, and Sinn Féin's Darren O'Rourke.

[1][24] During the election campaign, Seamus Morris, a Sinn Féin North Tipperary County Councillor, accused the McEntee family of putting their grief to one side to keep their "snouts in the trough".

[25][26] Morris posted the comments on Facebook, but later withdrew them when they were published on the front page of the Irish Daily Mail, and issued an apology; Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams called the remarks "entirely inappropriate".

[25][26] McEntee took her seat in the Dáil on 16 April 2013, where she received a standing ovation upon entering the debating chamber, and was welcomed by Taoiseach Kenny, as well as other political leaders.

'"[29] McEntee gave her maiden speech to the Dáil on 8 May 2013, during a debate about that year's fodder shortage caused by cold spring weather, praising Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney's handling of the issue.

[37][38] Elaine Loughlin of the Irish Examiner noted that despite her relatively short time representing the constituency, McEntee had been "visible on the ground, attending community meetings and events", and suggested she would benefit from this at the forthcoming poll, particularly as she had enjoyed a greater presence than her colleagues.

Newstalk radio presenter Ivan Yates forecast a win for Fianna Fáil in an area that falls into the Dublin commuter belt but felt that McEntee would hold on to her seat because she is from the largely rural north of the constituency.

[42][43] She also participated in an internal party inquiry into Fine Gael's poor election performance, as part of a team of TDs who spoke to unsuccessful candidates, but stood down from this position upon her appointment as a junior minister.

[46][47][48][49] One of her first acts in the post was to help launch an Irish Council for Civil Liberties booklet offering advice to older people on their rights concerning retirement, access to health and community care, pensions, and elder abuse.

[50] Shortly after this, she was faced with one of her first major tasks when she was called on to play a role in helping to wind up the affairs of Console, a suicide bereavement counselling charity, after the organisation was plunged into crisis by a scandal involving the misuse of funds.

Speaking about the initiative, McEntee said that its work would "ensure that the voices of our young people are at the core of a more open, more engaging, more supportive national conversation about mental health and wellbeing".

[59][60] Shortly after taking up the position, she travelled with Varadkar to Brussels for a European Council meeting, which included talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her team.

[66] On the election of Micheál Martin as Taoiseach in June 2020, McEntee became Minister for Justice as part of a coalition government composed of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party.

[67][68] As Minister for Justice, McEntee oversaw the passage of the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020,[69] which had been introduced in 2017 as a private member's bill by Labour leader Brendan Howlin, following the death of a 21-year-old girl who took her own life after she was bullied on social media.

[71] She sponsored the subsequent Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022, which passed Dáil Éireann in April 2023,[72] but was later stalled in the Seanad amid concerns about its potential impact on privacy and freedom of speech.

[78][79][80][81] Following the high-profile murder of Ashling Murphy in January 2022, in which a 23-year-old primary school teacher was stabbed to death in Tullamore, McEntee promised a new "zero tolerance" approach to gender-based violence in Ireland.

[84] She faced criticism over public safety the following month, after teenage boys in Dublin city centre attacked a 57-year-old tourist from Buffalo, New York, inflicting life-changing injuries.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald suggested that McEntee should step down due to what she called the minister's "unacceptable failure" to keep the public safe.

[102] During the 2016 general election campaign, McEntee expressed concern that the area around the Newgrange ancient monument, which is in her constituency, risked becoming a "dead zone" due to restrictive planning provisions applicable in the vicinity, which can limit permission to build homes and facilities.

[108] McEntee is married to Paul Hickey, who she first met while he was working at Dáil Éireann as a parliamentary assistant to fellow Fine Gael politician Joe McHugh.