‘It does affect your personal life, there is no question about it’

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TD Holly Cairns of the South West Cork Social Democrats has spoken honestly about the personal cost of a TD, confirming that her relationship with TD Christopher O’Sullivan of Fianna Fáil has ended.

In an interview with the Irish Examiner, the newcomer TD, who has fought loudly for women’s rights in the 33rd Dáil, speaks about the need for more women at the highest level of politics, fighting Micheál Martin and suffering online abuse.

On the personal cost of the job, she said she has hardly seen the people who helped her get chosen because of the nature of the job.

“It definitely takes its toll. Throughout the election, you ask the people in your life a lot. People really go above and beyond for you and you don’t have time to give that back, ”he said.

“My mom, my uncles, my dad… they all give you so much, and because of the pandemic, I have barely reached it since. He’s been so busy.

“So, it does affect your personal life, there is no doubt about it. It is like a way of life rather than a job you sign up for, a vocation,” he added.

Ms Cairns, the only female TD in all 18 city and county Cork Dáil representatives, said the absence of women at the main decision-making table has been evident in some of the poor decision-making during the pandemic.

“If there had been more women at the decision-making table, then issues such as the admission of couples to maternity hospitals or the issue of maternity leave for female representatives would have been addressed,” she said.

“Women are not represented in the same way, I am the only female TD or senator in all of Cork, the city and the county.

“It’s no wonder that many of the issues I found myself involved in in the first trimester were related to maternity restrictions during the pandemic and issues related to domestic violence, and then a mother and baby home issue. “he added.

Ms Cairns, chosen by various commentators as the 2020 TD, has described the “deep frustration” she has had to deal with to get people to accept her in their own right.

It is incredibly frustrating. If I was in politics just for this, I would have joined Fianna Fáil, where it is much easier to get elected when you are in such a party and you have an electoral machine behind you.

So the opposite was true in my case. Obviously, I was passionate about my politics. [Christopher and she] He entered politics from a very different place. He was co-opted … when he was 21 or 22.

“I had a scrutiny team for every box in the constituency. I started completely on my own from scratch with the assumption that I am the one to question for authenticity. That’s always the narrative and it’s really frustrating,” she said.

“I have never let it affect the way I do my work, but they still accuse me of it. For example, my first day on the council we elected a mayor, [O’Sullivan]. I did not vote for him. I do not vote for Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil and I am very sorry. But there is still a narrative that I am the one who has to doubt the authenticity, “he said.

When confirming that O’Sullivan is now her “ex-partner,” Ms Cairns referred to a recent Twitter storm in which she was in vogue because of something her ex had said.

Holly Cairns and fellow Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore at a press conference calling for the phasing out of state support for the Irish greyhound industry by 2025. Image: Gareth Chaney / Collins
Holly Cairns and fellow Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore at a press conference calling for the phasing out of state support for the Irish greyhound industry by 2025. Image: Gareth Chaney / Collins

“Around the elections, we were certainly not prepared for the media storm that took place. Since then, it has gone on quite a bit, as it often comes up.

“Often, I was about to say that we are often asked about it, but actually I am often asked about it. That is the reality. Like the Twitter storm recently, I think when my name was the most popular for 24 hours. ”

I was in a trend of criticism for being married to Christopher, and as if I was not married, he is my ex-partner.

It’s amazing, the only time her name was mentioned was when it was, why am I getting all the abuse for someone else’s beliefs. Why was my name leaned by someone else’s beliefs? And I think that epitomizes the kind of misogyny that we’re still dealing with, ”he said.

“And I guess it’s also kind of a broader point that this ‘cancellation culture’ is.

What people disagree with is that I love someone at Fianna Fáil, which is true regardless of anything else. For me, that cancellation culture of cutting someone off because of a different belief is deeply problematic. Politics is about attracting people. “

Cairns, who is 31, said it’s actually helpful to society that we’ve become so polarized. “Social media is a much more amplified version of reality, but it is a metaphor for what we are moving towards and I think it is something that we really should really look at and really think about,” he said.

Ms Cairns, who has competed for her party on important issues in the Dáil such as the mother-and-baby house debacle, state funding for greyhound racing and the maternity rights of elected representatives says “no intimida “in coming face to face with Micheál Martin.

“I guess it’s never my intention to get under her skin [which she has done on occasion] And I get nervous before I go on TV. But I am not discouraged and I believe that there is the Taoiseach. He’s a Cork person and I’m just trying to get answers, ”he said.



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