It is probably best to get one thing clear from the outset – the name is pronounced Cray-ton, Lucinda Cray-ton. Not Cry-ton. It is just a little bugbear of the Renua leader, writes RTÉ's Ailbhe Conneely.
Born in 1980, Lucinda Creighton is the youngest party leader running in the General Election. The daughter of a bookmaker and a teacher, she grew up in Claremorris, Co Mayo and has one sister.
While neither parent played an active role in political parties in the area, there was a keen interest in news and current affairs in the house during her formative years.
She went to Trinity College to study law and became an attorney-at-law for the State of New York. In 2005, she was called to the Bar.
It was during her college years in Trinity that she became a member of Young Fine Gael. In 2004, aged 24, she won a seat in the local elections for the Pembroke local electoral area in the south of Dublin city.
After three years on Dublin City Council, she ran in the 2007 general election and took a seat in the Dublin South East constituency.
Her win was not underestimated by Fine Gael. A young, extremely capable female was just what the party required, and Lucinda Creighton fulfilled that role.
For the next three years, she was the party's spokesperson on European Affairs but that ended when, in the Fine Gael heave of 2010, Lucinda Creighton, along with a number of other TDs, supported Richard Bruton in his failed challenge for the leadership.
She was removed from the role as spokesperson on European Affairs and moved to Justice with special responsibility for Immigration, Integration and Equality. However, she would later return to the European Affairs position – as the Minister of State.
In 2011, Fine Gael became the largest party in the Dáil for the first time in 78 years. Ms Creighton was amongst the seat-getters and she was appointed Minister of State for European Affairs.
Taking on the role with aplomb, she became a well established player on the European stage in the middle of the biggest economic crisis in the EU. She was not afraid of vocalising her criticism of European leaders over their handling of the downturn.
Each time Taoiseach Enda Kenny had meetings in Europe, Creighton was invariably by his side.
In 2013, Ireland would assume the role of presidency of the EU. Creighton was centrally involved in the preparations for this and also worked with her party colleague, Simon Coveney, to devise the party's campaign for a Yes vote during the referendum on the Stability Treaty in 2012. So far, so good.
Then came the contentious Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill which resulted in Creighton leaving the Fine Gael party.
Few TDs would say it was an easy time in the Oireachtas, but for a number of deputies, the Bill, which defined the circumstances and processes within which terminations could be legally performed, proved a step too far.
Creighton defied the party whip and voted against amendment 56 on the suicide clause along with her now Renua party colleagues Billy Timmons and Terence Flanagan, as well as Mattie McGrath (Ind), Peadar Tóibín (SF) and Éamon Ó Cuív (FF).
The question was what next for the TD, who was struggling to get speaking time in the Dáil within an ever-expanding Technical Group.
Murmurings of a new party were confirmed in January last year when she announced that she was founding a new political party in spring. Renua was unveiled with Lucinda Creighton as leader and Billy Timmins of Wicklow as deputy leader.
