Shane Ross visits Athlone for book signing

Mary Lou McDonald has no connection with the Republican campaigns of the past.

It is unlikely that she has ever incurred as much as a speeding fine. Yet she leads a party that includes hardened IRA veterans.

In a first biography, ‘Mary Lou McDonald: A Republican Riddle’ her former fellow-Dáil member, Shane Ross explores the influences on Mary Lou’s early life and fully covers her political choices. He traces her transition from Fianna Fail into Sinn Fein.

This biography illuminates McDonald's political awakening, her relationship with the hard men of the IRA, and the evolution and future of Sinn Féin. Shane confesses that he has known and liked Mary Lou McDonald for many years, having worked with her when they were both in opposition on the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee (2011-2016). He describes Mary Lou as excellent company, lively and amusing. As a performer in the committee's sittings, she was second to none. She was well-briefed by the highly competent Sinn Féin back office, which was grooming her for greatness.

Mary Lou is the bookies' favourite to be Ireland's next Taoiseach. If successful, she will be the first woman to reach the office and the first Sinn Féin leader to enter government in the Republic of Ireland. But how did a quintessentially middle class, privately educated woman end up as the leader of a political party with such a recent terrorist past? Shane Ross examines her attitudes toward Gerry Adams, Sinn Féin violence and whether she is a true believer or another political opportunist. He reveals her relationship with the politicians - many emerging from the shadows - who may be part of her government if she achieves her ambition.

‘Mary Lou McDonald: A Republican Riddle’ charts Mary Lou’s life from childhood to one of the most powerful women in Ireland. Published by Atlantic Books, ‘Mary Lou McDonald: A Republican Riddle’, is available nationwide and online.