Mary Lou McDonald speaks about undergoing hysterectomy this year

Mary Lou McDonald underwent a hysterectomy over the summer, the Sinn Féin leader has said in an interview.

Saying there was a need for honest and open conversation about issues relating to women’s health, Ms McDonald confirmed on Virgin Media’s Ireland AM show that she underwent the procedure to remove her womb on June 24th.

“I had a hysterectomy, so I lost my womb, my ovaries.”

She indicated the procedure followed the discovery of tumours, and praised the work of the staff at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin, where she underwent the procedure.

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“It was a fairly significant surgery - fortunately it was done by keyhole, which is great because it aids your recovery and more fortunately that was it for me. I had the surgery, the growths, the tumours were removed, and I didn’t require any further treatments or therapies.”

She said it was “serious surgery - it knocks you off course, but I was extremely lucky”.

She said the procedure had led to a period of reflection for her as a woman and a mother, and about getting a bit older.

“You’re kind of confronted with the fact that you’re not superhuman and you’re at another stage in your life,” she said.

“It’s very important that we can talk about this issue, it’s very important for women’s health that we can have these conversation and understand what women and girls are going through, everything from menstruation, menopause. We need to be able to have these conversations and men need to be part, and boys need to be part, of the conversation.”

Earlier this summer, Ms McDonald posted on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, that she had had surgery and was recovering well. On Wednesday of this week, she posted a video thanking those who had sent her supportive comments on social media, and that she was fully recovered and back at work.

Sinn Féin will hold its annual think-in in Dublin on Friday. Ms McDonald will take questions from the media on Friday morning before delivering a keynote address to members of the Sinn Féin parliamentary party.