PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT leader Richard Boyd Barrett has revealed that his cancer treatment has been successful and that he will soon return to his role as a TD.

“I want to offer my deepest thanks to the health care workers who cared for me during my treatment and recovery. They have given me my life back and I will always be grateful for that,” he said in a statement.

“The experience has redoubled my commitment to our public health system and the wonderful workers who keep it going in often difficult circumstances and with insufficient resources.

“I also want to thank the thousands of people who wished me well as I began my treatment and also the other patients I met who were on the same journey. Their shared experiences and their support were invaluable to me.”

Speaking on RTÉ’s Claire Byrne Show this morning, Boyd Barrett said he will be returning to work on a phased basis over the coming weeks. 

He shared the news of his throat cancer diagnosis on the same show in April of this year. 

Former TD Bríd Smith stepped in while Boyd Barrett was ill to assist with the running of his constituency office. 

“I hope people will understand that I may not be going at 100% capacity for a while until I try things out, because the side effects are substantial. Some of them, they don’t know how long they last. Some of them can even be lifelong,” he said today.

Boyd Barrett said his voice is “improving all the time”, but that it still gets tired after the treatment. 

He said one of the biggest side effects of the treatment for the throat cancer was that he wasn’t able to eat solid food for about four months.

“It was really not fun. And you wonder at that time, will you ever eat normal food again? Your appetite is gone. You can’t hold anything down for periods, the nausea, all that stuff. It’s tough. It’s tough,” he said.

Boyd Barrett thanked the team who kept his constituency office running while he was receiving treatment, and said it would be a good idea if Ireland had a system whereby a substitute TD could be put in place if the existing one is sick. 

Such a system already exists at European Parliament level. 

Asked if his illness has given him a different perspective on anything, Boyd Barrett said: 

“It certainly makes you appreciate life, you know, being alive, and it makes you very much appreciate the importance of our health workers and what they’re doing. Just the amazing work they’re doing for people.

“And meeting all the people from all the different backgrounds who are going through the experience of having cancer and getting the treatment, and all the amazing goodwill that I experienced with the letters, the messages, the emails, like it just made me think the vast majority of people out there are very good and decent people.”

He said he kept a close eye on the recent presidential election and was “delighted” with Catherine Connolly’s win and the successful way the parties of the left worked together. He added that he was frustrated not to be able to be part of it.

“We saw in the Catherine Connolly campaign that we can unite. And I hope that that lesson will be taken forward,” Boyd Barrett said.

He added that his experience of illness, and the kindness he was shown throughout, has “reinforced a lot of my sense about the potential and the possibility to change the world for the better”.

“I’m glad I’m going to be around to play some part,” he said.