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Image / Editorial

Mary Lou is trending on Twitter for 2 very different reasons


By Grace McGettigan
05th Feb 2020
Mary Lou is trending on Twitter for 2 very different reasons

Will Sinn Féin still top the polls after last night’s Leaders’ Debate? If Twitter is anything to go by, voters have very mixed opinions about the party’s leader Mary Lou


All eyes were on Mary Lou during Tuesday night’s Leaders’ Debate. For the first time since the beginning of the election campaign, RTÉ invited the Sinn Féin leader to join Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin for a final head-to-head before Saturday.

Despite Sinn Féin topping the latest Irish Times’ poll, some Prime Time viewers think Mary Lou has destroyed their chances – particularly after an awkward grilling about the murder of Paul Quinn. Others criticised her “fudge of an answer” about the abolition of the Special Criminal Court.

General Election Leaders Debate

Still, many viewers have praised Mary Lou for telling it as it is. One stand-out quote being shared online is, “Fianna Fáil was and is the party of property developers and Fine Gael is the party of landlords”.

Others have commended her recognition of the current ‘upstairs-downstairs’ pension policy. Women’s health campaigner Vicky Phelan tweeted, “Excellent point made by Mary Lou about Leo and Mícheál (who are entitled to AT LEAST two very substantial pensions) telling people in this country who have worked hard all their lives that they are not entitled to a much smaller state pension at 65.”

Here are some more of the very mixed reactions to Mary Lou’s performance:

Photo: RTÉ Prime Time


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