OUT ON THE canvass in Bray yesterday, Mary Lou McDonald ran into parents who had just come from a parent-teacher meeting in a nearby school.
“Hope it went well? All happy?” asked the Sinn Féin leader. “All good,” they responded.
“Is there anything you want to raise with us,” the party leader asked.
The woman laughed with a sense of exasperation.
“Sure, where would you start,” McDonald said, telling the couple that housing, childcare and the cost-of-living are the main issues being raised with her on the doorsteps.
The father jumped in to say that they were only just discussing how they think McDonald is “the only person to go Washington on St Patrick’s Day to take on Donald Trump”.
“Do you think so?” said McDonald, laughing. “What do you think I should say to him, to Donald?”
“Ah you’ve time enough to think about that,” said the man. Laughing along, McDonald said:
That would be a good dilemma to have.
McDonald has been asked previously what she would do if she was Taoiseach and had to pay a visit to the White House next year. McDonald said she would take up the invitation, but said she would tell the US president that they should stop supplying arms to Israel.
This time last year, McDonald becoming the next Taoiseach was something she and her party might have thought would be on the cards, but in recent months the party has seen a slide in the polls.
The party has definitely stabilised any fall off, and should do better than some critics might say, but their path to power is now uncertain.
The Sinn Féin president was joined by Wicklow TD John Brady, who took over 24% of the vote in the 2020 general election and was elected on the first count with over 17,000 votes.
But that was a time when the ‘Mary Lou’ effect was at its height and ‘brand Sinn Féin’ appeared it could do no wrong.
It is a different political landscape four years on and nothing can be taken for granted, especially in the Wicklow constituency, which as gone from a five-seater to a four-seater since the Electoral Commission boundary redraw.
Five doesn’t go into four, so it’s boots on the ground that are needed for people to retain their seats.
This is why McDonald was hitting the streets of Bray yesterday afternoon and why she followed in Simon Harris’ footsteps and paid a visit to students in DCU earlier in the day.
McDonald told the students: “I hope all of you have, you’re all registered to vote because this is a very important election for everyone, especially your generation.
“In my mind, this is your election, this is the moment where you make your mark.”
Erica Elliott asked about the party’s plans for disability services, while Amy Casey, an international relations student from Co Roscommon, raised concerns about access to mental health supports.
Casey said she had been nine months waiting for an appointment, and said while housing is important, “without mental health the country won’t run”.
“If Sinn Féin promise to work on that, Sinn Féin will be getting my vote,” Casey told McDonald.
The Sinn Féin president promised the young people reforms on housing and mental health, which is something she spoke about more while visiting Jigsaw, a mental health charity for young people in Bray.
People who work there explained that they expect referrals to surpass last year, stating that there were 580 referrals last year. They said they are fighting to get wait times down which currently stand at 10-12 weeks.
“Early intervention is key,” McDonald was told, with the staff telling the party leader that whoever is elected needs to make a big investment in mental health services.
Adam Burke, a youth worker, says no decision is made about young people without their voices being included in that decision-making process.
McDonald said her party wants to revolutionise youth mental health services for those under the age of 25.
“No young person in Ireland should ever have to face a mental health challenge without the care and services they need,” she said.
McDonald said she had concerns of youth mental health services cutting off at the age of 18, and commended the work of Jigsaw who work with people up to the age of 25.
“25 is the more appropriate point, isn’t it,” said McDonald. Adam Burke, a youth worker with Jigsaw said:
“What we do know is a lot of young people at the age of 18 they leave that secondary school setting, they go on and they might be going into the workforce or higher education, they might travel, but essentially they’ve got a lot of change and we know that change can be the very catalyst that impacts young people’s mental health, so it is doubly important that we are still with them on that journey.”
Aisling Murphy, a youth advocate working with the charity, said she was disappointed with the budget allocation for mental health in October.
“As a young person who has seen friends and family struggle themselves and then you are seeing [investment] is half what is recommended,” she said to McDonald.
Speaking yesterday, McDonald said in her view, a whole generation has been failed by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil governments.
“They have been robbed of their right to a future here in Ireland. That can’t go on. We need a new government that is on the side of young people, a government that will back them and their futures.
“The pledge [to young people] we announce today is to say directly to young people that a Sinn Féin led government will do just that. Together, we will make Ireland a country in which young people can realise their full potential and pursue their dreams, happiness, and success.”
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