Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has revealed she would “love the opportunity” to be the first female Taoiseach.
In the new Hot Press, out Friday, May 10th, the newly appointed Minister for European Affairs, Fine Gael TD for Dun Laoghaire, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, lays her cards on the table about wanting to one day lead the country.
She also laments the fact that there have never been any women elected to three of the most important cabinet positions, and warns that the current hostile political atmosphere – with the rise of sinister far right elements in Ireland – could result in the tragic deaths of politicians, as witnessed with the appalling murders of MPs Jo Cox and David Amess in the UK.
She warns that Ireland could be targeted by Russian cyber-attacks during the upcoming European and local elections, explains why she would not go into coalition with Sinn Féin, and lambasts the Catholic Church for both historical sex abuse scandals and its failures in education.
Minister MacNeill gives one of the most entertaining answers ever to Hot Press’ famous question about smoking marijuana – which has to be up there with both Bill Clinton’s and Brian Cowen’s often quoted comments.
She also reveals that she sang with a gospel choir on stage both with Aslan and on the virtual Elvis world tour.
On becoming leader of Fine Gael, Minister Jennifer Carroll McNeill said, “I would love the opportunity to lead the country. Or to be in a leadership position."
On the lack of female representation in senior cabinet roles, Minister Jennifer Carroll McNeill said, “We’ve never had a woman Minister for Finance! We’ve never had a woman Minister for Foreign Affairs.
"We’ve never had a woman Taoiseach. That’s three senior positions where we haven’t had women. Are women not relevant to those conversations?”
Sinn Féin
On going into government with Sinn Féin, Minister Jennifer Carroll McNeill, “I don’t think they function like a normal political party. And I really see difficulty with Sinn Féin not finding, within themselves, the capacity to condemn the people who committed violence.
"I still see celebrations and commemorations of the people who committed such violence. I still see families of the disappeared begging Sinn Féin representatives for help in finding the bodies.”
On cyber attack during the upcoming elections, Minister Jennifer Carroll McNeill said: “The threat of disinformation, the threat of disruption to democracy, is just as live here as we go into our electoral cycle, as it has been right across all the other democracies in Europe."
On the fear a politician could be attacked or murdered, Jennifer Carroll McNeill – who is Minister on the Task Force for politician’s safety that the Ceann Comhairle set up with the former Garda Commissioner, Nóirín O’Sullivan – said, “What I worry about is the random attack.
"I’ve seen colleagues who have had [heated] people coming into their constituency offices, who have had things thrown at them at public events.
"We just need one of those to go too far, and it becomes incredibly serious.
"And that’s what I’d be most worried about for politicians. Because that’s what happened in the UK with Jo Cox and David Amess. Both were essentially random events, but from a backdrop of increasing vitriol towards politicians generally."
Finally, speaking on singing with the Dublin Gospel Choir, she said “I was on Ballykissangel with the gospel choir. I sang in The Point at least twice.
"I sang there with Aslan. Christy Dignam was a beautiful singer. And you might not believe this, but it’s true: Elvis Presley in 2001, in the Elvis Live Tour.
"I know Elvis was dead! But The Jordanaires were there and the original backing singers. And basically it was Elvis on this 80-foot screen in The Point."
