‘I wasn’t well’: Mairead McGuinness on health issues that prompted presidential election withdrawal
Mairead McGuinness has said she withdrew from last year’s presidential election campaign as a result of a severe bout of post-viral fatigue syndrome.
The former MEP cited health reasons when she announced last August that she would not be contesting the election for Fine Gael.
In an interview on RTÉ Radio’s Brendan O’Connor show, McGuinness (66) said she is feeling good now but felt very weak at the time of the decision.
“I suppose every part of me, I wasn't well, I was physically drained, I had lost loads of weight, I wasn't sleeping, and it crept up on me very quickly.
“I’d had some kind of virally things, but didn't think they were significant until I was hit with this. I suppose it was like a bolt from the blue, where I was knocked sideways and couldn't keep going.
“And of course, it would be fine if you weren't in the public space, and you could opt out and stop.
McGuinness said she felt she was faced with a decision between continuing in the presidential race or prioritising her health.
“It was a tough decision in many ways, but easy to take in the end, and once I took it, and again, it was kind of interesting on that day, on that Thursday, and that was a week before the announcement was made, so we had a long period of sort of that interim.
“But when I took that decision, I actually wrote down the decision, I wrote the press release that would announce it, and I wrote, ‘Don't let anyone change your mind’. So, it was quite definitive for me that I had to do this.”
McGuinness said it was difficult not to be able to say she was unwell to anyone for fear it would leak out and derail her campaign.
“I wasn’t codding myself… I thought I was going to get better."
She ultimately informed Fine Gael of her health issue and wanted to inform her family, friends and former colleagues as she did not want them to “hear it on the radio”.
“I don’t think I have ever been at that point before,” she added. “I was emaciated… I was eating but not eating… I was very, very tired."
McGuinness said she did not expect she would run for political office again but did not fully rule out the possibility.
