MARY LOU MCDONALD has said 2024 was by far “the toughest” year of her life.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Journal, the Sinn Féin leader said she is looking forward to the Christmas break, stating that her family will “collectively have a sigh of relief” to see the year out.
During the summer, McDonald’s husband Martin Lanigan was diagnosed with colorectal cancer during a family break to France.
The Sinn Féin leader had only just recovered from a hysterectomy in early June 2023 when the family made the trip abroad. McDonald’s father also passed away this year.
In terms of the day-job, the party leader has also been dogged by a series of controversies within Sinn Féin, topped off by the party not performing as well as it would have expected in the general election.
Asked whether this has been her most difficult year, McDonald said:
Yes, without a question.
“I love Christmas. Christmas is always a very special time. But this year for our family, it really is a moment where we will collectively have a sigh of relief that we’re through a lot of very challenging circumstances marked with a bit of sadness, obviously as well, I buried my Dad in the midst of all of it.
“Certainly my resilience, personally, got tested very significantly. But I also know, there isn’t a family in the country, in the world, who at some point isn’t faced with big, big challenges, and that this was our year. And we’re through them and we’re going to be together on Christmas Day, and we’ll kick back and and relax.
“But yeah, it was a tough year. I can safely say it was the toughest year of my life,” she said.
However, McDonald said she was never tempted to walk away from politics or to pack it all in.
While she indicated that there are plenty of people within the party that would make good future leaders, she doesn’t plan on stepping of the stage soon.
There is nothing like life-changing experiences, such as she experienced, to really force a person to get their priorities in order, she said.
“I see the world now through different eyes and than before. Absolutely, no question about that. That did that not mean that I ever thought, ‘right, I’m done now’. No, far from it.
“As a matter of fact, I was very, very clear that I had to manage what was going on, but I had to show up for work. I had to do my job. I mean, I carry a lot of responsibility and we represent a lot of people who are going through that and more,” said the Sinn Féin leader.
“So I think reflecting on it now, I think it has probably made me much more appreciative of lots of things and much more determined,” she said.
Ironically, McDonald said she now feels “brand new”.
“I feel like I’m starting all over again, like I feel extremely positive, extremely energised for the task that is ahead. And the task is considerable, like, it’s not for the faint hearted. But you don’t come in to a life like this, and survive and thrive in a life like this, unless you have a strong engine, and you’re able to kind of keep on, keeping on,” she said.
It is true that the path ahead of Sinn Féin is an uncertain one, with the party being forced into reset mode since the general election result.
The party has taken 39 seats in the next Dáil, and while McDonald said this is a “big result” for her party, it is not where they wanted to be.
“We fell short. I want us to be in government, like that hasn’t changed at all, at all. It’s just now clear that it’s going to take a bit more time than we had hoped,” she said.
So where next for the party and her personally?
McDonald has ruled out making a bid to be the next president of Ireland next year, stating that she will be staying on as Sinn Féin leader
In terms of the party’s future, The Journal asked McDonald if she believes a change in the Fianna Fáil leadership would be needed before the party would enter into government with Sinn Féin.
Responding, she said the leadership of Fianna Fáil is a matter for themselves, but stated that she has spoken to some members in Micheál Martin’s party who believe shutting out Sinn Féin and not speaking to the party is the wrong tac.
“You hear from individuals who think that that’s the wrong position. I just think it’s arrogant,” she added.
She said a “change in attitude” is needed from the Fianna Fáil leader, stating Martin is saying he will not speak to the second largest party in the Dáil.
She said hundreds of thousands of people voted for Sinn Féin and noted that her party is the largest on the entire island of Ireland.
With Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael set to have a large government majority, if the Independents prop them up, McDonald said it is important the left-leaning parties work together.
While parties on the left failed to organise themselves ahead of the election, in terms of creating a left bloc, McDonald indicated in the new Dáil that her party will be willing to build better relationships with other opposition parties.
McDonald has held some post-election talks with the likes of the Labour Party and the Social Democrats, stating that those discussions need to be a starting point.
“I think the conversations that we have started, that has to continue, and we have to find a way by respecting each individual identity, because we are very different. We’re different in many ways, but on areas of common cause, we have to find ways to collaborate and to work together,” she said.
“I think that’s really, really important. I think it couldn’t be more important to force maximum change from the opposition benches ,” McDonald said.
The Sinn Féin leader indicated that it those relationships could be built upon over the next few years.
“What we have to do is now create the energy and the impetus within Sinn Féin, but also across the opposition benches, to take this government on whenever it’s in place, and to push and affect the maximum amount of policy change that we can from the opposition benches.
She said when the next election approaches, whenever the may be, she hopes and plans to ensure that the public aren’t left with no alternative to a Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael-led government.
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