MARY DAVIS HAS said she has spent her entire life working outside the system but admitted her presidential campaign had been damaged by her perceived reputation as a former member of a number of State boards.
Davis was speaking in an interview with RTÉ’s Morning Ireland in which she said was frustrated by the fact her integrity was called into question.
Answering a question about her reputation amongst some commentators as a ‘Quango Queen’, Davis pointed to her work with voluntary organisations but admitted that her perceived reputation had damaged her campaign.
She said:
Clearly my campaign was causing concern to some parties and independent candidates as it was gaining momentum……yes particularly in relation to the last poll, it would have been taken around time that that negative campaiging was happening, so yes.
Davis was also asked whether her lobbying on behalf of people with special needs would be more effective if she was not president of Ireland as she is seeking to become.
She insisted that she could bring her “influence” to the role and said that community groups such as the 0nes she has worked on can often influence government decisions.
She continued:
I can bring to bear a lot of influence in the Áras in making change happen.All my life I’ve been working outside the system. I’m a totally independent candidate.
I’ve never been involved with a political party before and in fact leadership often comes from the community and from community groups.
That’s the way it’s been with Special Olympics and then the government has followed and indeed that’s the way it has been with many of the changes which have happened in our society today.
The former CEO of Special Olympics Ireland said she could bring “my skills, my dynamism, my energy and my track record of making change happen” to the role of presidency.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say