MARY Lou McDonald has been criticised after supposedly leaving early during a health briefing this week.
Sinn Féin's president has thus far refused to take a public stance on the Government's decision to follow NPHET's advice and move to Level Five of the Living With Covid Plan.
She claims that she hasn't had access to all the facts the Government has, but it's now been revealed that Ms McDonald left a health briefing early on Monday, where all the details surrounding the latest Covid-19 figures were discussed.
According to the Irish Daily Mail, the Sinn Féin president abandoned the meeting before key details surrounding the upcoming lockdown were fully disclosed.
One source present at the meeting said: "She dialled in. I am not sure exactly what point she left at but she made one contribution at the beginning and that was all. We were with Paul Reid and the CMO for the best part of two hours and then we stayed on an extra hour with the Taoiseach.
"She wasn't around for the meeting with the Taoiseach and she left before the end of the meeting with the CMO. And she only made one contribution whereas we went around the table several times and we were asking different things. It was a very interactive session and she only made one contribution," the source added.
Another source said: "That's the way she goes on. That's the way she behaves. She is not interested in others. She thinks she speaks for all of us."
Despite this, a Sinn Féin spokesperson claimed that Ms McDonald stayed in the meeting until the CMO left.
"Mary Lou McDonald was in attendance for the same duration as the Chief Medical Officer and received his briefing in full; and heard contributions from various other members of the opposition. She arrived on the call at 4pm as scheduled and left the call at 5.30pm," the spokesperson said.
Either way, as leader of one of Ireland's major political parties, perhaps attending important health briefings in their entirety isn't the craziest thing to ask of her.
