Mary Lou McDonald - A Republican Riddle

A biography of the Sinn Fé in leader, and Taoiseach in waiting, Mary Lou McDonald. Mary Lou McDonald is the bookies' favourite to be Ireland's next Taoiseach. She would be the first woman to reach the office, and the first Sinn Fé in leader ever to enter government in the Republic of Ireland. But how did a quintessentially bourgeois woman end up as the leader of a political party with such a recent terrorist past? And was her change of allegiance from Fianna Fá il to Sinn Fé in ideological or opportunistic? Shane Ross's scrupulously fair and balanced biography illuminates McDonald's political awakening, her relationship with the hard men of the IRA, and the evolution and future of Sinn Fé in.

About the author

Shane Ross

Summary

Mary Lou McDonald is the bookies' favourite to be Ireland's next Taoiseach. She would be the first woman to reach the office, and the first Sinn Féin leader ever to enter government in the Republic of Ireland. But how did a quintessentially bourgeois woman become the leader of a political party with such recent links to terrorism?

This exhaustively researched biography unearths new details of her family background and her privileged education, as well as her initial foray into politics through the more traditional Fianna Fáil party. It explores her unusually late commitment to political life and traces her mysterious but meteoric rise through the ranks of Sinn Féin and her relentless drive to reach the top of the party.

Scrupulously fair and balanced, Mary Lou McDonald illuminates its subject's political awakening and her interactions with the hard men of the IRA, while posing important questions about the evolution and future of Sinn Féin.

Foreword

A biography of the Sinn Féin leader, and Taoiseach in waiting, Mary Lou McDonald.

Product details

• Authors: Shane Ross, Ross Shane
• Publisher: Atlantic Books
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 06.10.2022
• EAN: 9781838955892
• ISBN: 978-1-83895-589-2
• No. of pages: 416
• Dimensions: 153 mm x 234 mm x 29 mm
• Weight: 561 g
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History; Non-fiction book > History > Biographies, autobiographies; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Process / Political Parties, POLITICAL SCIENCE / World / European, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Women in Politics, Ireland, Politics & government, Politics and government, Biography: historical, political and military, Political leaders and leadership