Cork MEP Deirdre Clune: 'I've mixed emotions about my exit from politics'

MEP Deirdre Clune, who is retiring from politics this year, has “mixed emotions” about not going forward for re-election in June, but given that she will be 65 on June 1, she knows she has more years behind her than ahead of her.

Chatting in the Metropole Hotel recently, this scion of the Barry’s tea family is her usual relaxed self. Dressed in a royal blue jacket over a black dress, she has travel plans for her retirement and no doubt wants to spend more time with her five grandchildren.

She will continue to be involved with Fine Gael, supporting candidates for election.

“That’s how I started out,” says the Blackrock-based mother of four sons, none of whom were interested in following in her footsteps on the political stage. Sons, Rory (38), Peter (36), Robert (33) and Michael, (27) have qualified in their parents’ professions. Two of them are engineers and two are dentists.

Deirdre, who has worked as an engineer, was first elected to the Dáil in 1997. Asked if her late father, Peter Barry, whose roles included Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, groomed her for political office, she replies: “Never, even though we were all involved. I’m the eldest of six. We would canvass and distribute leaflets. At that time, there was no constituency office. Your home was your office. There was a notepad next to the phone and every time it rang or there was a call to the door, we were under strict instructions to write everything down.”

Did she find politics exciting growing up? “It was just what we did,” says Deirdre.

Going for election was her own decision.

I became active in my own community as an adult. With children and parent/teacher meetings, I got involved with the school board. As a member of Fine Gael, I came up through the ranks.

“My father stood down and I stood for election. There was an opportunity there. I felt that if I didn’t take it, I’d have regrets. I don’t have any regrets now.”

One of the highlights of Deirdre’s career was going into the European Parliament after being first elected in 2014.

“You go in on your own and stand in a room of 750 MEPs, and Ode To Joy is being played. I thought that was a really significant moment.

“I always had an interest in Europe. I think it’s very good for Ireland. It’s something we have to work on all the time. We can’t just take it for granted. Irish people fall in and out of love with Europe.”

A low in her career was losing her Dáil seat in 2002.

“That was very disappointing and hard to take. I’m not the kind of person to dwell on that. I was still a member of Cork City Council and went into my meetings and built on what I had and was returned in the next election.

“If you’re afraid of losing, you’d never stand. I think it’s important to participate.”

Like her grandfather, Anthony Barry, and her father, Deirdre served as Lord Mayor of Cork. That was in 2005, the year Cork was the European Capital of Culture.

I loved that year. It was a highlight. I think I know my city. As Lord Mayor, you embrace every community right across the city, the businesses, the charities and the cultural events.

At the recent Cork French Film Festival launch, Deirdre mentioned that her branch of the Barry family is originally from Normandy.

One of the reasons she didn’t try to push her sons into politics is because it’s very hard on the partner in a relationship. It can be particularly hard on mothers as politics is not family-friendly. Having to commute to Dublin makes it doubly difficult. When Deirdre first stood for election, she had four children under ten, with the youngest just one year old.

“I was fortunate to have a very understanding husband (he is dentist, Conor Clune.) We coped. I had two grannies which helped. There were sometimes childcare crises. I felt it was about managing everything. My Sundays were really busy, doing the supermarket shopping.

“With children, as long as they know who’s collecting them from school, that their sports gear is in the bag and that there’s something in the lunch box, they’re (happy). They want a calm routine.”

Were they clingy when they were small, watching their mother leave home every week for a few days?

“I spoke to someone about this who said if you come home in your suit, the children pull on you to put on your at-home clothes. That’s the signal for them.”

Has Deirdre reared her sons to be good feminists?

“I think they can iron a shirt, produce a spaghetti bolognese and cook a chicken breast. If there’s no milk in the fridge or no bread, somebody has to sort it out. It’s not going to happen unless somebody gets what’s needed.”

Deirdre says it’s important to have women in politics, despite the challenges.

I wouldn’t say you can go into politics and change it so it’s family-friendly. It is what it is. You need to be available. We need women in politics; we need different voices and genders.

“I was lucky with the timing of being in the European Parliament. I wouldn’t have been able to do (the travelling) when the children were young because you’re four days away from home.”

How does Deirdre feel about the rise of the far right such as Viktor Orban, prime minister of Hungary?

“I wouldn’t agree with his politics at all. The far right is a challenge for Europe. How do you deal with it? Do you push them out by making it difficult for them to stay? Should we give them funding? They have rule of law issues. You don’t actually want to push them out because that will push them to Russia. I started out in the European Parliament with the issue of Brexit. The Conservatives had been in our grouping, the European People’s Party. But they were getting too right-wing so they moved to the ECR (European Conservatives and Reformists). Then Nigel Farage was sniping at their heels from a further right wing group. Eventually, the Conservatives left. If you push too far, they leave and that’s not what we want. It’s very delicate.”

Politics in Ireland is “becoming very polarised. There’s no voice for the middle ground, but there has to be. We’re not a country traditionally given to extremes. People want to be fair and they want the system to work for them.”

Our interview took place before Leo Varadkar stepped down. Asked about the prospect of Sinn Féin leader, Mary Lou McDonald, as Taoiseach, Deirdre doesn’t directly address the question.

I actually think the current government has a good chance of being re-elected. Campaigns are everything. People switch on in an election campaign. There’s a track record there.

“Look at how well we came through Covid. The government had the trust of the people because of strong leadership. And the state of the finances is really important. It’s still about the economy.”

It’s also about immigration for some, who claim that Ireland is full up.

“We cannot say ‘no’ to people who arrive here from war-torn areas or those trying to escape persecution.

“In fact, under the Geneva Convention, we are committed to provide protection in these cases. We also need to recognise as a society and an economy that we need people who werenot born here to come and work in healthcare, retail, IT, construction and other areas.

“However, I do recognise that not everyone who comes to Ireland for economic reasons can stay here and in those situations, we need to give fair, efficient and firm responses.” 

On the RTÉ debacle, Deirdre stresses the importance of public service broadcasting.

 “They need to put a structure in place to get back public confidence. We understand what went wrong. It shouldn’t have happened.”

 Deirdre would like to see “an independent funding mechanism” for RTÉ, rather than government grants. 

“I don’t think government funding is right. It means (the broadcaster) is not independent.”

 Between the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, the world is in a shocking state. Would female leaders do a better job? 

“Who knows? A person I admired a lot was Angela Merkel. She pulled Europe together. She spoke to people. She didn’t use megaphones or speak through the airwaves. She preferred the one-to-one approach. She understood you have to listen to people and not listen to the noise.”

* This interview was carried out before Leo Varadkar announced he was to step aside as leader of the party and Simon Coveney's decision to leave cabinet.