Culture

Mary Lou McDonald: ‘If you think I am forward in my expression, meet my mother’

Sinn Féin leader tells Irish Times Summer Nights Festival how her family shaped her

Jennifer Bray's face
Jennifer Bray
Tue Jun 29 2021 - 21:30

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has said that she is “in a thrall to nobody” as she rejected claims that she is accountable to unelected figures in the organisation.

Speaking at the Irish Times Summer Nights Festival, McDonald was asked by host Kathy Sheridan about concerns that the party hierarchy would be “led by people who we do not know” if Sinn Féin enters government.

“When I am asked about this it is generally in exchanges like this or in conversations with media people or commentators. That is not something that is raised with me on doorsteps. I am in thrall to nobody,” Ms McDonald said.

“I am elected by the people of Dublin Central. My colleagues are elected. We are accountable to the people who elect us. This business of us being in thrall to others it is a ruse deployed by people who quite frankly have held all of the strings of power now in this State for a century and who are not going to let change in without putting up a fight, and this is one of the arguments that they deploy.

READ MORE

She said the suggestion was “farcical”.

Comments

Sheridan referenced comments by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris last year, when he was asked if he agreed with the view by the PSNI that the Provisional Army Council still oversaw both the IRA and Sinn Féin. The commissioner replied that the Garda shared that view.

“He said it, and what else was he going to say? That was a classic case of ‘Dúirt bean liom go ndúirt bean léi’ – the type of thing that somebody said that they thought. I don’t operate in conjecture of that nature.

“I am the leader of Sinn Féin and I’m in thrall to no figures, shadowy or otherwise.”

When asked by Sheridan if any phone calls are made to figures in Belfast, Ms McDonald said: “We deal with colleagues but ultimately I am the party leader nationally. Ultimately I have to have an eye on everything that is happening across the island. Of course we work together. But if you are asking is there some outside structure outside of Sinn Féin that has to okay actions, that simply is not the case.”

Family

She also spoke about her upbringing as a Catholic, her family life and the impact that her parents’ separation had on her.

“When I was ten, in September 1979 with a twist of delicious irony as Pope John Paul was making his way to the Emerald Isle, my parents separated. It literally coincided. You can imagine and recall back in the Ireland of 1979 a broken marriage, a failed marriage, a broken family was a thing of stigma. You were made to feel that sense of shame.”

“I always remember my mother being so angry and frustrated if she was at mass and a priest or anyone from the pulpit would be talking about broken families or warning against the evils of divorce.

“Our family was not broken, it was very complete. My mother raised four of us. She is an outstanding little woman, she does not clear five foot in height but she is absolutely mighty. If you think I am forward in my expression and my thoughts, you need to meet my mother, that explains for most people how I think… and that instinct to find your star and follow it.”

Opportunity

A move towards a united Ireland will happen this decade, she believed. “This is a really exciting opportunity. It is incredible we have the chance to fashion Ireland again. Things we got wrong, we have a chance to start over and get them right.”

The Irish Times Summer Nights Festival, sponsored by Peugeot, is a series of online talks featuring Irish Times journalists in conversation with local and international authorities. It runs until Thursday. Still to come in the festival are: Maureen Dowd interviewed by Hugh Linehan; Gordon Brown and Roddy Doyle talking to Fintan O'Toole; Mona Eltahawy with Róisín Ingle; and Jo Spain talking to Bernice Harrison. A ticket covering all events costs €50, or €25 for Irish Times subscribers. Full schedule and tickets from irishtimes.com/summernights.