Rebel with a Cause As the Government’s five-year term comes to an end, one politician has experienced more turbulence than a Cessna in a hurricane. The rollercoaster career of Lucinda Creighton is headed for another revolution but whether it is up or down, it certainly won’t be gentle. As she leads her new party to the polls, she talks to Stuart Gilhooly about giving up the law, standing her ground and getting back into bed with Enda
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ucinda who? Two words you’re unlikely to ever hear. Along with other Irish one-name protagonists, Lucinda has joined Enda, Roy, Bertie and Miriam as a moniker that requires no surname. In just eight years she has gone from being anonymous to the best known female politician outside of the Tanaiste. And while the Marmite cliché is overused, it does seem to apply here. She divides opinion like few others and it’s clear she both engenders loyalty in some and drives others to their daggers. In the last few months while the Government has been engaged in a phony war with the opposition over election dates, there has been a tendency to dismiss Renua, the new party and vehicle for Creighton’s ambition, almost as also-rans because of poor poll numbers. The inclination has been to lump them in with the large raft of independents and assume that they will make up the numbers when the results are in. This is to
We currently have three seats and I think it’s reasonable to suggest that we could bring in ten seats minimum
underestimate Lucinda and history tells us this is unwise. When we meet, she is predictably friendly in a breezy and uber-confident way. Conversation is easy and answers are typically forthright, but when I question the number of seats her new party may take up in the election, her eyes flash with a steely determination and a mild degree of hurt. Would she be happy with three, four or maybe five? “Ten, 15, 20. We’re pursuing at least one in every constituency. We currently have three seats and I think it’s reasonable to suggest that we could bring in ten seats minimum.” If that was the case and assuming that Fine Gael and Labour don’t exceed 70 seats between them, then Renua could hold the balance of power. Would she kiss and make up with Enda Kenny after such a public falling out or would her well-publicised principles disallow such a union? “We are preparing and are prepared for
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