Mary Lou McDonald has been the Leader of the Opposition to the Irish Government since 2020. She is also the leader of centre-left political party Sinn Fein, currently the second largest party in the Irish parliament (Dail).
Since 2000, Sinn Fein has gone from being an extra-parliamentary party to being the most popular party in the Irish Republic, on course to win the next general election under McDonald. On the face of it, Sinn Fein’s success seems reasonably straightforward; in a country with fast economic growth, but unequal distrubiton of opportunity, social service provision and housing, especially for young people, a party of the left has become popular.
However, Sinn Fein also seeks to bring about a united Ireland, something which forces the party to reconcile the views, priorities and memories of its voters in the Irish Republic with those of its voters in Northern Ireland. These views, priorities and memories, as you're about to hear, are often hard to bring together.
My guest today is Pat Leahy. Pat is the political editor of The Irish Times, and also the author of books on Ireland’s political system, including The Price of Power: Inside Ireland’s Crisis Coalition.