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GE2024nikki bradleyFINE GAEL GENERAL election candidate Nikki Bradley has apologised for remarks in which she said that the county of Donegal had a “negative attitude”.
The senator of four months who lost out on a Dáil seat at the weekend received backlash for the comments in which she accused voters of “hyper-focusing” on certain issues.
In the interview with Highland Radio, she said she was not downplaying the struggles of Donegal constituents, but rather reminding them to “find moments of happiness”.
Today, Bradley told Donegal Daily that she didn’t realise how the remarks came across and that she had let herself down.
“I want to apologise to the people of Donegal in general and the people that voted for me,” she said.
“If there’s anybody that voted for me and now feels disappointed by what they saw over the weekend, I want to clarify that how it came across was absolutely not how I intended it.
“Having spent 11+ years working with my Fighting Fit for Ewings campaign and working with national disability charities, I have been working incredibly hard to try and improve situations for people.
I let myself down with how I worded everything.
She added: “Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I didn’t realise how it came across until I saw it back.”
Bradley, who is from Milford, received 3,658 first preference votes but was eliminated on the 14th count. Her running mate John McNulty also failed to win a seat, receiving a similar number of votes.
In the radio interview on Saturday that went viral, Bradley said: “I do think attitudes in Donegal also need to change. I believe that there is a very negative attitude in this county and I would absolutely love to be in the party, but to be part of that change.”
Asked to clarify if she meant that the negativity was within the Fine Gael party in Donegal, Bradley said: “Within the county in general.”
“It’s something that I feel everywhere I go … there are certain issues in the county that we’re hyper focusing on and there’s many others that [are] falling by the wayside.
“I really did just want to get that point in,” she added.
Presenter Greg Hughes gave some examples of big issues in Donegal, including the 7,000 homes crumbling from mica, 118 children waiting months for a CAHMS assessment, and 350 families waiting for carers.
He said it’s “very hard to be positive” if you’re one of the people experiencing these things.
Bradley responded: “To be honest, I don’t agree.
“I’ve been in a lot of those situations. I’ve sat in A&E in Letterkenny last Christmas for 15 hours on a chair that wasn’t suited to me as an amputee.
“I’ve had to travel to multiple countries for surgeries. I had to have my treatment down in Dublin because it wasn’t suitable to have it up here.”
Bradley was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a form of bone cancer, when she was 16. She has since had two hip replacements and more recently she had her leg amputated.
She became a motivational speaker in her 20s, founding Fighting Fit For Ewing’s, which aims to raise awareness about the disease as well as participating in physical challenges.
“I have been there … I’m just trying to remind people that I’m absolutely not underplaying what people are going through and I would hope that your listeners wouldn’t ever think that,” she continued.
“We can still go through this and find moments of happiness.
“If you get up every day and you only focus on the area of your life that there’s something wrong, you’re the one that’s going to lose out in the end.
“There’s still a million things out there that can bring a smile to your face.
“I do think that I have enough lived experience to be able to say that without being preachy.”
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The Uniparty cares little for Donegal.
We have every rite to be Negative, we have been constantly Ignored and Underfunded by this and previous Government’s in all aspects of Infrastructure, Health and Education to mention just a few. Is it any wonder we have lowest Income per person in the Country, since records began, and having 2 FF TDs in the next Government is not going to make any difference despite what Minister Mc Conalouge has said after getting Elected today.
@Owen Mc: does donegal not have a institute of technology right at top of the county…alot of counties would die for this
@Owen Mc: absolutely yet they still vote for them …why anyone would vote for any of them either ff fg or greens I find just incredible when it’s many of their own who can’t afford a house ..or are on a waiting list.. or are even in Australia or elsewhere …unbelievable.. then again as wise man once said “Never underestimate the stupidity of the human being”
@Owen Mc: You only have to look at the people again voting the likes of a 76 year old FF Pat ‘The Cope’… expecting something different…. wtf
@Frank Man: That’s the Point I’m making in my article.
@hi from heaven: Yes well done, but unless I’m wrong, a lot of other Towns have Institute’s and Seats of Education, but where’s our Intels, Motorways, Train links etc, or am I being Negative pointing out these deficiencies.
@hi from heaven: This kind of “whataboutery” is pathetic! Lots of places have lots of different things, that doesn’t mean that people should just tolerate mediocre and poor public services!
The ivory tower mob Tory Lite FG dont really care too much for places outside of the big suburbs sure
Not a wise comment
Sour grapes. Greg Hughes was having none of her guff. took her apart in 10 seconds. That’s what really made her reconsider her words. Get him on RTE.
Somebody who has been through what she has been through is entitled to tell people to look on the bright side, but it was way off the reservation in this context.
Good heavens, sounds like sour grapes to me.
@MH Gallagher: Harris could not spend all day listening to a member of the public repeating the same thing over and over and this was twisted. Now another mountain out of molehill rubbish slagging for the good of slagging a sincere helpful sentence.
@thomas molloy: or the truth always hurts
She must have been coached by the master of st upi d comments…Mr Harris himself. When your boss is an arrogant little toad this attitude will peter down to the lower levels of the party. Nothing as boring as a jumped up smart- arse trying to be funny
And nobody cares the election is over
@Trump24: Ye that’s right trump they don’t care and never have. It will be back to more scandals, corruption and wasting taxpayers money. It’s great to hear it from the horses mouth though.
A lot of Donegal men have square heads for some reason, like the robot in Red Dwarf. Seriously, what’s that all about.
Donegal is beautiful with wonderful, warm, welcoming people. But I can’t understand why the people continue to vote for Sinn Fein, Republicans and Protest Groups in such large numbers.. They have no power and can not and do not deliver anything for the beautiful County of Donegal. They just shout across the Dáil floor and get nowhere. Perhaps it is time for a rethink.
Donegal certainly has things to complain about in terms of connectivity etc. which really needs to be improved dramatically be it roads, rail or both. The county does receive twice the amount in tax payer money than is raised there however so it certainly is not the forgotten county. That has to be said.
@John Moore:
Sinn Fein have brainwashed the population into being the perpetual victim.
@John Moore:
Whats the bet, if the government announced next week a Motorway and railway transport system to the top of Donegal, the locals would start objecting to the damage to the landscape outside their windows.
No place in any party for whingers accept democracy and move on 5 years build your base
The interview she gave was truly astounding and the level with which she is out of touch with the area she wanted to represent was shocking! Greg Hughes ripped her apart and showed her up for who she truly is…describing an electorate as “doing a lot of moaning and groaning on the doorsteps”, isn’t really going to endear people to vote for you!
she should resign then.
she was not even elected.
just
have your say