[3] She studied Architecture at University College Dublin, where she shared a drawing desk with Ruairi Quinn.

She first ran for political office in 1979, when she was elected to Bray Urban District Council for Sinn Féin the Workers' Party.

[4] In 1994, Democratic Left formed a government with Fine Gael and the Labour Party, and McManus was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, with responsibility for Housing and Urban Renewal, serving until the coalition lost office in 1997.

[6] John McManus, a physician in general practice, was a Labour member of Bray Town Council from 1999 to 2009.

By February 2015 McManus had been with her new partner, Sean, also active in the Labour Party, for ten years.