*Violet-Anne Wynne. Photograph: Natasha Barton
CLARE TD, Violet-Anne Wynne (IND) has confirmed for the first time that she will be contesting the next General Election and has revealed she would be open to supporting a Sinn Féin-led Government if a call came from Mary Lou McDonald (SF).
Of the fifteen candidates in the 2020 General Election, Violet-Anne received the most first preference votes (15.1%) whilst under the Sinn Féin umbrella. She resigned from the party in February 2022 claiming there had been a campaign of “psychological warfare” against her, while most recently she has been linked with a potential move to the Labour Party.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Deputy Wynne announced she would be standing at the next General Election to try retain her seat. “I didn’t enter politics for any other reason other than the sheer motivation of wanting to be able to stand up for people and for those who feel broken, those who feel exhausted or aren’t being directed in the right way, as someone who has that experience, I didn’t want anyone to have that experience ever again and that’s what brought me into politics, I don’t think that has changed, it has probably got worse for people since the elections with all the emergencies we are facing as a country, we’ve the cost of living crisis, the levels of poverty and deprivation in this region has been the most deprived in the country, I can’t see that changing unless Ministers start stepping up for Co Clare”.
This time round, she will not have the backing of a party machine when it comes to canvassing but Wynne is confident it will not have an impact. “I’m not sure if it’s going to make a massive difference going for the next one, that’s all I can really say on that one, it’s not going to be a massive difference”.
She added, “I’ve had quite a few people who’ve said let me know when you’re going and they’ll come with me, all I can do is hope that people jump on board, if they don’t I’ll do the very best as I have done every other time, often sometimes by myself, there may have been a group on one particular day and in another area another time, the rest of it was pretty much as it is now”.
Relations with Sinn Féin and Deputy Wynne are non-existent but she wouldn’t rule out propping up the party in in Government. “I’ve always been of the opinion, if the people democratically elect X, Y and Z as Government, I’m not someone to say I refuse to of this system, you work with whatever the people have put in place, really and truly the public will decide how that transpires, it will be really interesting”.
Likewise she would be open to discussions with other parties. “It would be the same no matter who gets into Government and that is what they can deliver for Co Clare, it is the only thing I’ll be interested in and I’ll be up for having that conversation with anyone willing to listen, that is all I’m going to care about”.
Although she has come under scrutiny and pressure, Violet-Anne has not considered walking away from politics. “I don’t mind scrutiny or any of that, I came into that knowing it was part of the role but the personal bit has been difficult, your family don’t put themselves forward for election and don’t want to be a public representative, most often your families keep to themselves, love their privacy and want to get by in the way that they do, that can be hard and listening to others speaking on this as well, it’s not just TDs and Senators, it’s county councillors, you don’t want mind yourself being scrutinised but it can be difficult when it’s your family, there isn’t a need for that kind of scrutiny on your family members because what’s going on in your personal life or what’s happening in your family’s life does not have any impact at all especially if you’re grounded in trying to stand up for people and speak up for people, that’s your motivation in politics”.
