On 10 February, two days after the general election that upended Irish politics, Sinn Féin’s leader Mary Lou McDonald was on a walkabout in central Dublin. To an inaudible question from somewhere in the mob of news reporters surrounding her, McDonald gave a brisk reply. “I may well be the next Taoiseach, yes,” she nodded matter-of-factly, allowing herself the faintest of smiles.
It makes for fascinating footage: a woman, whose future as Sinn Féin leader was in doubt only months before, contemplating becoming Ireland’s prime minister.
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