Mary Lou McDonald says discussion on gender equality must start from ‘position of respect'

Irish Independent

25-04-2025

David Cullinane apologised after he praised a UK Supreme Court ruling defining women by their biological sex as a 'common sense judgement'.
Last week, Mr Cullinane had welcomed the judgement by Britain's highest court and suggested that it should be 'fully examined' in Ireland. The UK ruling could effectively exclude transgender women from certain equality protections.
But by lunchtime on Thursday last week, Mr Cullinane had apologised for the 'hurt and offence' that he caused to the transgender community with his post on X.
Speaking to Patrick Kielty on the Late Late Show, Ms McDonald said the issue is also a personal one for her as her sister is a transgender woman.
'In terms of David, the great thing about social media is that it's immediate but that's also the problem,' she said.
'I have a trans sibling, and I love my sister. She's loved beyond measure, and I want her to live a full life, and I want that for any individual.'
Ms McDonald said the discussion on equality and LGBTQ+ issues must start from a 'position of respect'.
'The first decision has to be that we work for equality. Everyone has to have the right to respect, and I believe we can reach that in a fair way,' she said.
In relation to the last general election, she said: 'Simply put, we didn't get enough votes. We learned lessons from the last campaign. We just need to convince people we can do things differently.
'In this work, every day is a school day, every campaign is different.'
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The Dubliner said she never considered stepping down as leader of the party.
'I'm in the job now seven years, I'm in my prime. I believe in what we're doing. I'm a proud Dubliner, a proud Irish woman. There are so many things that can be achieved, and I want to be part of leading those discussions,' she said.
She also discarded the prospect of running for president and said Michael D Higgins is 'a national treasure'.
'It's a very important job but my work is to make sure we get a change in government, so we have better opportunities for young people,' she said.
She said Sinn Féin is considering backing a candidate within the party.
'We have options, we're going to have a discussion. I have my eye on one or two possible candidates,' she said.
In relation to the prospect of a United Ireland, Ms McDonald said she believes 'we're in the end days of partition'.
She said it's' not acceptable' that people in Northern Ireland can't vote for matters concerning the country.
'Isn't it crazy that people that live in your county – in the six counties – that they can't vote for their president,' she said.
'For me, the role of the president, the essence of it is inclusivity. The important thing is we need to get over the first hurdle to ensure that people living in Ireland can vote for their president.'
Asked about why her party boycotted the trip to Washington for St Patrick's Day, she added: 'When the Americans declared openly that they had changed policy to the extent that they were going to evacuate Gazans from Gaza City – that to us was just a step too far.
'Unfortunately, I'm not the Taoiseach, but it is essentially a meeting between the Taoiseach and the president.
'We have deep roots in the United States but for us, this year, that pledge in terms of Gazans, we believed, this was our way of marking our protest.'
Separately, Ms McDonald said she is 'still processing' the loss of her father.
'I had a complicated relationship with my father, it's always hard,' she said.
'I kind of did my best to always have relationship with him, I didn't always succeed but I think I'll spend the rest of my life processing that.'