During an appearance on Ireland AM, Virgin Media TV, Sinn Féin’s leader, Mary Lou McDonald, shared insight about her husband, Martin Lanigan’s cancer diagnosis and her father’s demise for the first time publicly. The past year has proven to be challenging with numerous life-altering incidents happening back to back.
She opened up about her near experience with Martin’s health scare which occurred unexpectedly during a family vacation in France. Martin was diagnosed with colorectal cancer, something that shook their life and turned their world upside down. Despite the hurdle, his health outlook presently seems to be positive.
She further explained the emotional ordeal of losing her father, a fact that she publicly revealed for the first time. Losing her dad had monumental effects on her life, but she assures she is coping fine. Her father peacefully passed away while in the attentive care of Caritas Nursing Home, located along Merrion Road, as per RIP.ie’s death notice from July 29th.
Commenting on Sinn Féin’s intentions of forming a government in the face of a general election and the threat of far-right agitators, Mary is concerned about the minor yet disruptive group. She remains adamant in their duty to engage with communities, articulate their agendas, and fiercely tackle these disruptors.
Regarding Sinn Féin’s novel housing policy, she confirmed the party’s commitment to implement robust measures. She clarified that citizens have conveyed their wish for concrete policies, which the party has listened to attentively. The party committed to allocate €39 billion to bring 300,000 homes to fruition over a span of the next five years, given they attain governance. Mary reaffirmed this is the first fully-accounted and implementable five-year plan launched by any political party from outside the government.