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FORMER FIANNA FÁIL minister, senator and TD Mary O’Rourke gave an in-depth interview to the Late Late Show on RTÉ last night.
Not known to shy away from expressing her opinion, the former education minister gave a frank interview in which she talked about her fertility issues, post-natal depression, and the death of her late husband Enda in 2001.
Ryan Tubridy also quizzed O’Rourke, whose book Just Mary was published this week, on her time in the Dáil and in government asking her about her informal title of ‘Mammy as the Dáil’ during the last administration.
“I think to be a mammy is a wonderful thing,” she said.
But the people who say to me, I mean people who might try to say it to me in derision, I say ‘Why? Don’t you love your mother?’ and they say ‘Well, of course I do’. So I don’t know, but I take it as it comes.
O’Rourke also spoke about the time she turned down a specific spokesperson role with Fianna Fáil shortly after being elected. Then Fianna Fáil leader Charlie Haughey offered the Longford-Westmeath TD a role as spokesperson on women’s affairs in the early 80s.
But O’Rourke recounted how she declined the offer: “I didn’t want to be put in cupboard and women’s affairs written (across it) and every time there was a big issue about women, pull you out, put you back again.
I would be talking about women anyway in the course of things and taking up issues relating to women but I didn’t intend to be pigeon-holed as ‘Mary O’Rourke for women’s affairs’.
She recounted how later in the day Haughey rang her again to offer her a role as education spokesperson, shadowing then education minister Gemma Hussey.
On the death of her nephew Brian Lenihan last year, the 75-year-old said that it had a “huge affect” on her.
As well as knowing him from when he was a child, I served under the one roof, one workplace for 16 years. He was a very special person, very, very special. It’s just so lonely for Patricia and the two children, and for his mother, his sister and brothers. Very special, he was and is very special and nothing will change that.
O’Rourke said that she believed Brian Cowen’s story is “sad, very sad” and expressed doubt as to whether Cowen ever wanted to be Taoiseach in the first place.
You see to us as a party we wanted him as Taoiseach, we really did want him, and he – Bertie wanted him – he was propelled into it.But now looking back, and of course hindsight is a great science, I wonder did he want it himself. I really do, in hindsight. I think that maybe he was happier being freer, not having the weight of all that upon him.
On Bertie Ahern, she added that her feelings on him were “mixed” over his success in helping to negotiate peace in Northern Ireland and the building boom.
He perhaps gave in too much to the unions maybe,” she said. “But at the time everyone adored it. I mean all the building, the construction boom, 80 cranes on the skyline of Dublin or all over but there was full unemployment. So there are two sides to all of these things.
O’Rourke added that all the “kissy, kisses” with German chancellor Angela Merkel did not appear to be working in the government’s favour but praised Taoiseach Enda Kenny for being a man “full of action”.
“But I wonder if in all the action… if the head going around doesn’t want to stall a bit and try to put it together,” she added.
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Why don’t you show us your picture so we can all judge your looks? Is it really a good idea to use your business account to make insulting personal comments?
She’s a lady
She’s insufferable- she was responsible for the Eircom debacle and also making the stupid decision not to link up the two Luas lines.
Yes she is a lady. Promoted way beyond her ability unfortunately.
@Reg
Every man mentioned in the article was too.
Just goes to show Carisma is a lot more beneficial than ability in politics.
She defended ff
Didn’t she say “we worked like blacks?” Fool…. and rubber diddy is a big FF support anyway
What a pathetic sycophantic article and headline yet again by thejournal. A “frank entertaining” interview. More like a nauseating interview by a FF revisionist who is the cause of the mess we are in, yet tries to distance herself from all those disastrous decisions made by her corrupt party. She also talks about Brian Lenihan as if he were a saint.
Unfortunately we’ll be stuck with her on the airwaves until Christmas as she desperately tries to plug her pathetic book.
The old hag in her book also defends Haughey stealing from Lenihan’s sick fund on the basis that Lenihan got his treatment anyway. And she marvels in her book about how well Haughey would look going to EU summit with his hair combed.
She is a self-serving failed politician.
great interview ! Honest and entertaining lady !
You must have missed the bit where she talked about Ahern. And most of the rest of the interview come to think of it.
Lenihan lowlife like the rest of them….. Traitors and sc*mbags the lot of them….
In 2001, Fianna Fail gave away IR£400 billion in tax breaks that mostly benefited the rich cronies. They needed to buy votes ahead of the 2002 election in order to win an all-out majority.
Jesus, shows how much money was being thrown about when that’s just a tax break!! There’s a couple if bank-bailouts in that!!
Well I’m no defender for FF but you cant just make stuff up either , where did you get 400bn in tax breaks for 2001 ?? that you claim only benefitted the rich ? Seems way wrong as a number if our economy only generates 32bn in total now , and weren’t tax rates cut right across the board ? , all paye taxes reduced not just rich , minimum wages increased / introduced and extensive benchmarking that overpayed many public service roles for little or no returns in productivity , FF made a mess but there was a wider engagement that just the very rich , remember trying to any sort of building job done and the ridiculous prices quoted??
Charlie McCreevy was the one that set the Eircom public offering price far too high. Mary hadn’t the sense to see it. Too much time luxuriating in the bath, I think.
Part of the crowd who destroyed this country, she said “there’s lots to do after retirement” fu€king sure there is when you got the pension she’s raping from the tax payer
Everything that’s wrong with Irish politics: elected for being good craic rather than any competence, talent or vision.
No one puts Mary in a cupboard
Maybe she should have had a word in Bertie’s ear about the disadvantages o being out in a cupboard.
Sorry, should read the disadvantages of being put in a cupboard.
So if Mary was mammy of the Dail and Enda was described as father of the dail. Oh i see a sex tape rocking the Irish political world :O
It’s not a question about ugly or not, but capability, so your comment is pointless
thats a tape id pay not to see
she gets ?98k a year pension paid by us. makes me sick. shame on rte for giving the fianna fail traitor party more airtime.
Looks don’t make a good politician ,do you have to be so personal,if you want to criticise stick to performance issues.i would suggest you Ho back to the attic and slam the trapdoor shut.
RTE is run by Fianna Fail Tubridy is a spokesman for this party
More like THE MUMMY OF THE PARTY. All dead ghosts still just about tolerated. All families suffered under this woman yet hers prospered. She is a real Irish politician.
Who murdered thr Priest in Offaly Mary?
She wasn’t the worst of em , I’m a s/f voter but been honest she seems like an honest woman ..
they are all the same in that mob. she is out promoting FF again, if she was a decent person she would be keeping her head down.
98k pension that she worked for all her life and is entitled to!!!! If you worked all your life and the terms of your employment and contributions entitled you to a pension of that are you trying to tell me you wouldn’t take it?
Being a politician is well paid yes, but a job that deserves to be paid well. If any of you know any politicians, councellors etc you will know you give up your life, your right to privacy, your families, your children’s the day you get elected. You work long hours, have to make yourself always available all the time to people coming knocking at your door / office.
If you don’t pay them well, you won’t get anyone wanting to be elected taking into account all the above sacrifices you need to make!
What contributions? The pension levy is new and contributions before that were miniscule.
Is padraig pee Flynn in disguise? One wonders. They are paid too much full stop. This lady and the rest of her corrupt lecherous party will never know hardship. Huge pensions has to stop.
The whole interview was sickening . Tubridy should have grilled her properly over why Fianna Fáil ruined out country. Why wasn’t she quizzed about the massive pensions, payoffs and severance payments made to politicians. About why a tribunal (Mahon) that cost the taxpayer €300m , only for no sentences to be imposed on the culprits . Because rte is an old boys club that’s why . Your not allowed ask the hard questions .
“..mixed feelings on Ahern…” …he nominated her for the Seanad…and propelled her for services rendered…a good example as any FF incestuous relationship to Another state sponsored pension..Mam
Whine, whine, whine, whine, whine.
Moan, moan, moan, moan, moan.
Great interview, a must watch…weather you like her or not…I promise you will laugh :-))))
Fianna who?
Now that we have real drag queens in our society we no longer need the likes of mammy mc fetish on the tv. What a load of shite! It’s bizarre. She must have filled some perverse gap in the market . How in the name of the mother of lord leaping Jesus did she ever make it into politics !
I hope ur attic conversions have more than looks to em …
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