Could Co Armagh grandmother Maureen Guthrie be the most intelligent woman in Ireland?

Maureen, a retired teacher who lives in Portadown, was recently elected unopposed as the president of Irish Mensa.

Having stepped down from the society for four years, the former chairperson returned to the top position having missed the camaraderie at Mensa.

Asked if a conversation with someone in Mensa and someone not in Mensa was any different she said: “Possibly not. There are people who are just as bright who are not in Mensa.

“The thing about Mensa I have found is that it’s very inclusive. I saw two people strike up a friendship a number of years ago at a Mensa meeting – one of them was a vegetarian and the other was a beef cattle farmer. The two of them got on like a house on fire.

“The only two conversations that don’t generally arise are religion and politics. We don’t do those as a general rule.”

Maureen, who has six children and six grandchildren, was born in Castlewellan, grew up in Newcastle, and moved to Craigavon when she became a teacher at St Anthony’s Primary School. She now lives in Portadown.

Later this summer Maureen and her husband Ernie will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

She commented: “People in Mensa are really not that different from anybody else. I just spent this morning looking for a credit card.

“It’s just that when we’re presented with a problem we can usually solve it that wee bit faster. That’s all really.

“With Mensa there’s no knowledge-based learning, it’s all about working out puzzles.”

Maureen recalled when she first realised she had a gift: “I never really had any bother with schoolwork.

“I’d passed what was then the 11-plus, I’d graduated from St Mary’s College, then started teaching.”

It was at that time, while she was in her 20s, she was drawn to the puzzles section of the Belfast Telegraph: “I sent in the answers and a reply came back to say, ‘we think you should try a test for Mensa’. I did and was offered the opportunity to join.”

She added: “I’ve been in the organisation for quite some time. I’m from a generation who still uses a pen and paper and an ordinary telephone.”

Of her new position she said: “The president’s role is to advise and counsel the committee who run Mensa in Ireland and also to let people know that Mensa is a good place to be.”

Mensa is a society for those whose intelligence falls within the top two per cent of the population and has members from every conceivable walk of life.

Maureen estimated Irish Mensa would have somewhere between 800 and 900 members.

Before lockdown, Mensa held test sessions in Belfast on a regular basis and is hoping to reinstate them soon.