*Violet-Anne Wynne. Photograph: John Mangan
A KNACK for causing political shockwaves has proven to be a feature of Clare TD Violet-Anne Wynne’s (IND) time in politics.
From causing one of the biggest upsets in a General Election in February 2020 to her subsequent exit from Sinn Féin, Deputy Wynne has never gone about doing things in a quiet way.
During her time in the Dáil, she has regularly flagged lack of medical services, pyrite, waiting lists and inordinate waits for patients to access treatment.
Regrettably, Deputy Wynne was the only one of the twenty candidates in Clare that opted against doing an interview with The Clare Echo as part of our election supplement.
“Since being elected you have shown in various articles that you do not approve of my position as a TD. You crossed the line between politics and personal therefore there can be no trust or confidence in you and what you print,” she said when declining an interview request.
In 2019, she was the second candidate eliminated in the Kilrush LEA after amassing 385 first preference votes. One of her opponents on that occasion was Mike Taylor (FG) who later became her parliamentary assistant but prior to this called for her resignation as a TD.
Less than a year after her local election setback, the Offaly native caused a political earthquake when securing 8,987 first preference votes to top the poll, she was the second candidate elected in Clare and the third ever female TD for the county.
Speaking to The Clare Echo in March 2023, she confirmed that she would be seeking re-election to the Dáil. “I didn’t enter politics for any other reason other than the sheer motivation of wanting to be able to stand up for people and for those who feel broken, those who feel exhausted or aren’t being directed in the right way, as someone who has that experience, I didn’t want anyone to have that experience ever again and that’s what brought me into politics, I don’t think that has changed, it has probably got worse for people since the elections with all the emergencies we are facing as a country, we’ve the cost of living crisis, the levels of poverty and deprivation in this region has been the most deprived in the country, I can’t see that changing unless Ministers start stepping up for Co Clare”.
She added, “I don’t mind scrutiny or any of that, I came into that knowing it was part of the role but the personal bit has been difficult, your family don’t put themselves forward for election and don’t want to be a public representative, most often your families keep to themselves, love their privacy and want to get by in the way that they do, that can be hard and listening to others speaking on this as well, it’s not just TDs and Senators, it’s county councillors, you don’t want mind yourself being scrutinised but it can be difficult when it’s your family, there isn’t a need for that kind of scrutiny on your family members because what’s going on in your personal life or what’s happening in your family’s life does not have any impact at all especially if you’re grounded in trying to stand up for people and speak up for people, that’s your motivation in politics”.
Deputy Wynne joined Sinn Féin in 2012, one year after moving to Co Clare. In June 2022, Violet-Anne said she, her partner John and their six children were homeless after receiving a notice to quit from the Kilrush property they had been renting. Deputy Wynne said she had been seeking alternative accommodation prior to the General Election of February 2020. Before becoming a TD, she was on social welfare and worked as a carer for her son.
As a TD, Violet-Anne is paid €101,193 and as a Clare-based representative, she is entitled to €31,365 a year in travel and accommodation allowances. However, she said in an interview in June 2022 that failure to pay rent at a previous rental property and her partner’s use of medical cannabis may be preventing them from finding a family home.
Violet-Anne and her partner John had rent arrears of €12,126 over a four-year period dating to June 3, 2016 for a property at Tullycrine. A commercial loan of €12,126 was given by Sinn Féin to Deputy Wynne. Rural Resettlement Ireland (RRI) took a case against Ms Wynne over the failure to pay rent but the housing charity no longer existed when details of the TD’s debt emerged after her election to the Dáil in February 2020.
In the biography ‘Mary Lou McDonald: A Republican Riddle’ by Shane Ross, Wynne spoke of a feeling of being snubbed by McDonald stating that her feminism was “a façade” with the book also revealing that Sinn Féin paid the rent debt owed by the Kilrush woman.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Shane Ross said, “Obviously in this area, there’s going to be a Sinn Féin candidate who will be challenging Violet-Anne Wynne, Violet-Anne wasn’t expected to win, she was a surprise selection and there’s a little bit of evidence that some of those who were elected not her that the party might rather if they were not elected at all, a couple of people have been uncontrollable”.
He believed that the party allowed the Offaly native to stand in Clare despite knowing of her rent difficulties because they believed she would not win a seat. “They let her get the nomination because they didn’t think she would get elected and they just wanted to have someone on the ticket, they never expected it to happen. Violet-Anne’s problems with not having paid her rent became apparent just before the election and she was still elected, she topped the poll which shows the strength of the brand, it was unstoppable, they weren’t very selective about the candidates they put in, they were surprised”.
