MARY LOU MCDONALD EXCLUSIVE

SINN Fein leader Mary Lou Mcdonald has confirmed she wants to be Ireland’s first female Taoiseach and insisted she will not settle for second best.

The straight-talking 49-year-old revealed her ambitions in a wideranging interview with the Daily Mirror.

The Dublin TD took over as party chief when Gerry Adams stepped down in February.

And Ms Mcdonald said she earnestly believes “we will all” see a united Ireland come about by agreement within our lifetimes.

But first, the mother of two is aiming for the top job in Irish politics and believes she could be the first woman Taoiseach in the history of the State.

Ms Mcdonald insisted she will not be content with the second prize because of what the status quo dictates.

When asked if her ambition is to become Taoiseach, she replied: “Absolutely. In fact I was just joking, how is it that it’s like, ‘She will be Tanaiste’. Can I not be Taoiseach? Is it that the girl gets to be Tanaiste and some lad gets to be Taoiseach?

“I think it would be great to have a woman Taoiseach.

“I think it would be even more great

DAILY MIRROR INTERVIEW

to have a progressive woman and a republican woman as Taoiseach.

“I’m not underestimating for a minute, I’m not losing the run of myself. I’m in this job 106 days so I still have an awful lot to do.

“I’m a great believer in rolling up your sleeves.

“You work hard and then you have to work for people’s trust, you have to work for people’s support.

“I never thought simply by coming into the job there’d be some big flash, and you know, there’d be cheering across the land. No, come on.

“But what I have said to people is, ‘Give me some time, give me a bit of space, and then make your assessment in terms of how I engage in issues and how I demonstrate leadership’.”

Ms Mcdonald also spoke about the changing of the guard in Sinn Fein that she says sees a completely different party existing today and that contrasts starkly with the largely Ira-led party of 25 years ago.

Turning to growing possibilities of a future coalition between former enemies Sinn Fein and Fine Gael in the Republic – as evidenced by recent platitudes going in both directions and co-operation on justice legislation – Ms Mcdonald lightheartedly suggested this was mostly speculation.

She said: “Oh, my goodness, I didn’t