Harney left ‘holding the baby’ after election loss

MICHAEL McDowell left Mary Harney “holding the baby” by resigning as PD leader the night he lost his seat in the general election, Liz O’Donnell has said.

In thinly veiled criticism, Ms O’Donnell, who was deputy leader of the party going into the election only to lose her seat as well, said she would have done things differently.

Following Mr McDowell’s abrupt departure, Ms Harney was left with little choice but to resume being party leader, even though she had no wish to.

“We all deal with tragedy in our own different ways,” said Ms O’Donnell. “Michael did what he did. He dealt with the defeat and his own tragedy in his own particular way.

“It wouldn’t have been my way. Really, Mary Harney was left holding the baby.”

Mr McDowell’s actions on election night drew mixed responses in political circles. He announced his resignation as PD leader and retirement from political life even before the loss of his seat was confirmed.

Some felt Mr McDowell had acted honourably by resigning, taking the blame for the PDs’ disastrous election, in which their tally of Dáil seats fell from eight to just two.

Others felt Mr McDowell had a responsibility to remain as leader at least until the party had steadied the ship in the tumultuous election aftermath.

Ms O’Donnell remained as deputy party leader for a period after the election, until eventually confirming that she, too, was leaving public life.

It was subsequently announced that she would present the forthcoming series of Far Away Up Close, RTÉ’s programme about Ireland’s involvement in the developing world.

“I have hung around after I lost my seat, trying to readjust,” Ms O’Donnell told the Sunday Independent. “I was in the Dáil for 15 years, which is not too bad.”

She said she would not be seeking a return to the Dáil. “While I’ll remain a member of the party, there won’t be a return. But it is going to be tough for the party to come back from here.”