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Mary Lou McDonald has predicted she will eventually become Taoiseach, insisting Fine Gael and Fianna F\u00e1il can only delay Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s journey to power.<\/p>\nMary Lou McDonald has predicted she will eventually become Taoiseach, insisting Fine Gael and Fianna F\u00e1il can only delay Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s journey to power.<\/p>\n
The party president said the time was right for a woman to lead an Irish government.<\/p>\n
Mrs McDonald has also revealed her admiration for Northern Ireland First Minister and DUP leader Arlene Foster, describing her as someone she likes.<\/p>\n
The Sinn F\u00e9in leader made the comments in a wide-ranging interview for Human Nature, a new podcast by Northern Ireland journalist Rodney Edwards.<\/p>\n
Asked if she thought she will ever become Taoiseach, Mrs McDonald said: \u201cYes, I do actually, and I don\u2019t say that in a vain way, I\u2019m not trying to pat myself on the back.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the time is right now for a woman to lead government here. Obviously, we have broken that glass ceiling in the North and I think similarly it\u2019s time here in the South.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t say that anybody should assume the role of Taoiseach simply because they\u2019re a woman, that\u2019s not the point I\u2019m making, but I think it\u2019s very important for society in general, but for women and girls in particular, that we prove without any fear of contradiction that women can occupy the most senior roles in public life, I think that matters.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then, maybe more importantly, down here there\u2019s a real palpable mood for change, like I\u2019ve never seen before, and a real understanding that your political choice doesn\u2019t have to be a binary choice between Fianna F\u00e1il or Fine Gael and whose turn is it now, that there is actually a different way of doing politics, that different forms of government are possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the prospect of a Fine Gael\/Fianna F\u00e1il\/Green Party coalition government being formed, Mrs McDonald accused the two main parties of \u201ctrying to cobble something together to keep us out\u201d.<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cThey may succeed for now, but the truth is that even though the establishment might frustrate or slow down change, they may delay things, but they\u2019re not going to stop change.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sinn F\u00e9in won the popular vote in February\u2019s election and emerged with 37 seats \u2013 just one behind Fianna F\u00e1il.<\/p>\n
But the party\u2019s efforts to form a left-wing coalition failed due to an inability to secure enough numbers to reach the 80 seats required for a D\u00e1il majority.<\/p>\n
In the interview, Mrs McDonald talks at length about her upbringing and background, including the impact her parents\u2019 separation had on her formative years.<\/p>\n
Asked for her view of another female leader \u2013 the DUP\u2019s Mrs Foster \u2013 Mrs McDonald said: \u201cI like the fact that she stands up for herself, I actually like that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI find Arlene a really, really interesting character. I like her.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s a leader in political life and I know as a woman you know, you earn your place, let me put it to you that way.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I respect that immensely. She\u2019s a mother of children, so she faces all of the issues that \u2026 no more than myself, so I like all of those things about her actually. I like that she\u2019s from Fermanagh, and that she\u2019s very connected with her place and very proud of where she comes from. I like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked what she liked about Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, she said he embodied many positive things, noting the fact he was an openly gay premier who is mixed race.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like the fact that he has achieved as a person and he\u2019s not just a category, he\u2019s a human being,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Leo\u2019s smart, you know; I think he\u2019s got a good brain. I don\u2019t like his politics.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mrs McDonald also spoke about her recent experience contracting Covid-19, describing it as \u201cdistressing\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was really quite sick, although I was still on the mild end of the experience, but I was quite sick,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI found it distressing that the virus had gotten into my house, because all of a sudden, you know, what had started as a story in China, then became grief and heartbreak in Northern Italy, poor Italy.<\/p>\n
“And then all of a sudden, it\u2019s in your neighborhood, and then it\u2019s in your home, and that was just distressing.\u201d<\/p>\n