Lucinda strikes back with fresh ambition to stay in public mind

From a wannabe Southside Evita to one of the few TDs with a spine — Lucinda Creighton has been called it all.

Always at the centre of a media swirl, the Dublin South East TD has finally done the inevitable — and whatever she may say to the contrary — moved to create a party in her own political image.

The highly ambitious barrister bulldozed her way into the Dáil in 2007 and would almost certainly be in the Cabinet if she had not broken ranks with Fine Gael and voted against the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill in 2013. Sine then, she has struggled for relevance — a battle that will now be determined by the reception of the new party she has launched with Eddie Hobbs.