Elaine Loughlin: Richard Boyd Barrett starts what’s likely to be his most gruelling campaign yet

Richard Boyd Barrett’s cancer diagnosis is a powerful reminder of the human cost of missed HPV vaccinations in Ireland

Richard Boyd Barrett speaking during an RTÉ general election party leaders' debate last November. The TD revealed to Claire Byrne this week that he had been diagnosed with throat cancer during that campaign. Picture: Niall Carson/PA

Away from the showmanship and drama of Leinster House, politicians — like us all — are human and subject to the fragility and unpredictability of life.

Richard Boyd Barrett’s raw but understated interview this week, during which he announced he will be stepping back from politics as he undergoes treatment for throat cancer, put the usual Dáil shenanigans into perspective for many.

In revealing his own diagnosis, which will now involve a particularly gruelling treatment programme with the most uncomfortable and nasty side effects, Boyd Barrett also highlighted that his situation is now completely avoidable through vaccination.

'Accidental HPV vaccine campaigners' 

Boyd Barrett joins a group of well-known names — from the late Vicky Phelan and Laura Brennan, to Lorraine Walsh and Stephen Teap — who have became accidental human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine campaigners.

Every year, 640 cases of new HPV-associated cancers are diagnosed and there are 196 cancer deaths — most of which are potentially preventable through the vaccination.

“Apparently the treatment is pretty rough,” the People Before Profit TD told RTÉ’s Claire Byrne in pointing out the road that now lies before him. “Eating and drinking can get pretty rough.”

He didn’t have to say any more: The brevity and tone indicated a lot.

Being in politics can be all-consuming, and the TD was in the middle of the general election campaign when he noticed a swelling on this throat while shaving.

But Boyd Barrett, like others who ran — successfully or not — in last November’s election, put all other life commitments on hold during the campaign.

“I left it for a few weeks, which I probably shouldn’t have, but I acted pretty fast,” he said.

Politics as a way of life

While elected representatives are much more than their political careers, public service and campaigning does become a way of life.

The long hours have intermittently been subject to calls for Dáil reform to make the schedule of a working public representative more family friendly. 

Then there are the endless constituency queries, no longer confined to set clinic times, but which come in via phone, text, Instagram, Whatsapp and Facebook. 

Richard Boyd Barrett speaking to media about the Dáil speaking time row last month with Social Democrats deputy leader Cian O'Callaghan, Green leader Roderic O'Gorman, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, Labour leader Ivana Bacik, and Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins. Picture: Gráinne Ní Aodha/PA

Campaigning on issues, drafting motions, meeting representative groups, and scrutinising legislation at Oireachtas committees — which have yet to get underway due to the speaking time squabble — is all squeezed in around an already packed schedule.

“It’s going to be hard to step back, I’ll be honest, looking at the stuff that’s happening, there are very dramatic events happening around the world,” Boyd Barrett said this week.

“I’m sorry I won’t be around for some of them, you know, the economic war Trump has launched; the horrors that are ongoing in Gaza; the housing crisis, which is a huge issue in this country and in my area. 

I regret, in a way, that I won’t be around to campaign on those things, but all going well, I’ll be back.”

Having gone to the doctor after November’s election, Boyd Barrett was referred on for cancer screening.

“I ended up having to get my tonsils taken out and they found that I had throat cancer that was prompted by the HPV virus,” he said.

Solidarity-People Before Profit leader and Dún Laoghaire TD Richard Boyd Barrett, centre, with Ruth Coppinger and Paul Murphy. This week, Mr Boyd Barrett announced he will be stepping back from politics as he deals with his throat cancer diagnosis. File picture: Brian Lawless/PA

Learning about HPV 

“I didn’t know much about it, but apparently about 70% or 80% of the population have it, it can be sitting in your system.

“The doctor said: ‘You probably picked this up years ago and then if can just activate.’”

“It is a shock, there is no doubt about it. But I am hardened by the confidence of the doctors that there is a very good chance of it being done, and I think a lot of people get through it,” he said, adding that telling his family — especially his son — was the hardest part.

Encouraging young people to avail of the HPV vaccine, he said: “People should be aware of HPV.

“I sort-of was aware of it, but I didn’t realise 70% or 80% of the population have it. It’s just latent there.”

But Boyd Barrett and his age cohort should be among the last to ever have to worry about HPV-related cancers — which include cervical, anal, penile, throat, and other head and neck cancers.

Vaccines and screening

The HSE’s HPV vaccination programme for girls and boys in the first year of second-level schools has been in place since 2010, and could see the almost elimination such cancers, but there is always a threat of complacency. A growing anti-vaccination movement in the US, for example, has seen outbreaks of measles in Texas in recent weeks.

The World Health Organization has set a target of vaccinating 90% of girls against HPV by the age of 15 as part of its global strategy to eliminate cervical cancer.

As part of this, countries are also being asked to ensure 70% of women are screened by age 35, and 90% of people identified with cervical disease treated.

Australia, which is focusing on this strategy of vaccination, screening, and treatment, is on track to be the first country to achieve cervical cancer elimination by 2035.

Here, the HPV vaccine uptake stands at around 80% among girls and 76% for boys — but the Irish Cancer Society has signalled concern around some slippage in the rates recently.

Wave of support 

Richard Boyd Barrett has this week received a flood of support both inside and outside the Dáil in his treatment and speedy recovery.

His diagnosis should leave parents in no doubt that the HPV vaccination is a life-saving measure that must be taken up by all teens.

• You can listen back to Richard Boyd Barrett’s interview on 'Today with Claire Byrne' on the RTÉ website. 

• If you are concerned about any health issue or symptoms you may have, please consult your doctor.