Ali Hewson live in Australia. The Stewart family, who resided in the suburb of Raheny on Dublin's Northside, raised their children as Protestants. Her father was a self-educated electrical worker who, according to Hewson, was "constantly questioning" things. Her mother, who was a housewife, had a secretarial career in mind for her daughter. Alison studied at Mount Temple Comprehensive School. At the age of twelve, she met Paul Hewson, who was in the year above at the school. He pursued her immediately, but she initially kept her distance, labeling him "an eejit" even though she secretly admired him. In September 1974, Paul's
John Hewson determined to enter politics himself. While a strong Liberal, he was internally critical of what he saw as unconvincing and inconsistent economic Liberal Party policies. He was a supporter of some of the economic policies of Margaret Thatcher. After the defeat of the Fraser government at the 1983 election, Hewson went into business journalism and became a director of a private bank, the Macquarie Bank. This allowed the Labor Party to tag him as "a wealthy banker" when he entered politics. Having divorced Margaret Deaves in 1985, in 1988 he remarried to Carolyn Somerville. Hewson was elected at the 1987