*Violet-Anne Wynne with Cllr Donna McGettigan. Photograph: John Mangan
FOLLOWING HER EXIT from Sinn Féin over a year ago, Violet-Anne Wynne TD (IND) has said she is not on speaking terms with the majority of her former colleagues.
Last February, the Clare TD resigned from Sinn Féin saying she had been subject to “psychological warfare” whilst on maternity leave and that party colleagues called her an “effing eejit” when she told them about her pregnancy.
Since leaving the party, relationships with former party members no longer exist. “There wouldn’t be any conversations, once I made the decision to leave the party, you know that in effect, which I knew would happen, I mean, that makes sense. Like communication would just go down to a zero or minimum”.
From the outside it would have seemed from the canvass in advance of the 2020 General Election, her frequent presence at events organised by Sinn Féin and how everyone wanted a piece of her at The Falls Hotel for the February 2020 count that Violet-Anne was a close friend of fellow Sinn Féin members.
Events that have taken place would indicate that such persons are not indeed friends of the TD. “Relations were strained anyway which is what I refer to locally so you know they definitely were all cut from the moment that I left the party, which is completely understandable”.
On the very first day of her canvass for the 2020 General Election, Deputy Wynne hit the campaign trail in Shannon, promotional leaflets had been not issued by Sinn Féin on time but it didn’t dilute the optimism of the Kilrush woman.
When asked if the delay in receiving such material was indicative of the lack of support she felt from the party, Violet-Anne replied, “I don’t really reflect any longer, that would have been the process that I was going through in that two years and for now, I definitely don’t want to be looking back, I want to be moving forward and I suppose having conversations about politics and not so much about Sinn Féin that’s gone now as far as I’m concerned, but yes, there would have been many difficulties that I would have faced and getting leaflets very late in the day was something that happened not only in the generals, but also the local elections”.
Being subjected to a campaign of “psychological warfare” was not easy, she said. “It was having an impact on every aspect of my life, it was more importantly distracting me away from the work which was what I took issue with and so I suppose I was in a very bad place if you’re not able to do the work that you want to do and you’re being distracted or being pulled off in other directions, you’re going to obviously be feeling frustrated and all of the things that come with that kind of frustration. I just know that I’m in a much better place now in terms of even sort of how I feel and how I’m able to do my work”.
