Liz McManus was first elected to Dail Eireann in 1992 for Democratic Left. She was a Minister of State at the Department of the Environment with responsibility for Housing and Urban Renewal during the Rainbow Coalition. She joined the Labour Party in 1999 when the two parties merged, and became Deputy Leader in 2002. She was re-elected to the Dail in 1997 and 2002 and is currently the Labour Party Deputy Leader and Spokesperson on Health.

Liz was born in Montreal in Canada and is married to Dr. John McManus who is a member of Bray Town Council. Liz is a qualified architect having graduated from University College Dublin. Outside of politics Liz established the Women’s Refuge in Bray in 1978 and was its convenor until 1991. She is a winner of the Hennessy, Listowel and Irish Pen awards in fiction and her first novel “Acts of Subversion” was nominated for the Aer Lingus/Irish Times Literature Prize. Liz also had a weekly column in the Sunday Tribune from 1986 to 1992.

Visit Liz’s Website : http://www.labour.ie/lizmcmanus/

Visit Liz’s Blog : http://lizmcmanus.blogspot.com/

(The photograph above shows Liz at the unveiling of a huge banner at Liberty Hall in Dublin to mark the Labour Party Liberty Project. Read more by clicking here)

1. The Wicklow Times recently did an interesting feature where they asked people on the street to name County Wicklow’s TDs. It was quite shocking how few people could name all 5. Whilst most people were able to list your name, what does it say about the state of politics when people have a poor knowledge of who represents them in Dáil Eireann?

There has always been a healthy cynicism from the public for politicians and this has increased with the never ending tribunals and reports published exposing corruption and various scandals. As a politician my job is to meet as many people as possible and to continue to raise issues for people in the Dáil. I try to be as available as possible all year round, and not just at elections. People can walk into my clinic in Bray and I have many other clinics around the county. The issues that affect peoples’ lives are the issues that politicians such as myself should be campaigning for, that is, access to good quality health service; the right to own a home; decent public transport; good education; and access to childcare. I do truly believe in the right to a Fair Society. That is why I became a politician. The job for me then is to serve the public as best I can, and to communicate that message to as many people as possible.

2. You’ve had an online diary/blog since July 2005 which is updated weekly. What advice would you give to your Dáil colleagues if they wanted to do the same and why do you think more politicians aren’t using the internet to connect with constituents?

Well I didn’t have a clue what a blog was in June 2005! It was explained to me that it was another useful tool in communicating with the public but in an informal way. An online diary with pictures! It seems that blogging is still at an early stage in Ireland in comparison to other countries. But it is a growing trend and while many politicians are not aware of this medium it can only increase, particularly in the run up to the General Election

I think Ireland’s technology infrastructure, in terms of Broadband provision, has meant that blogging has not yet become as popular here yet.

My advice to other politicians would not to be fearful of technology! It’s pretty easy to use and I’m certainly not a technological wizard by any means. For me, it’s another method to try to reach as many people as possible. I have also received loads of very positive emails about the site which is great and it is good to know that people are stopping by and reading it.

3. Your speech to the Dáil on October 24th on the subject of the privatisation of health is something everyone should read (read the speech by clicking here). If you were offered a full page ad in a national newspaper and were to take the essence of your 3,000 word speech to produce a really hard hitting and eye catching advert, what would you instruct your ad writer/graphic designer to do?

Thanks for your positive comments. I put this speech on my blog because it didn’t get the coverage in the media that I would have liked considering the importance of the topic. I think this is such a fundamental issue for our health services and direction it’s being taken.

If I had an opportunity to take out a full page advert I think it would have use an image from a quote from Prof Drumm (CEO of the HSE): “We need to be extremely careful that we do not drive to the front gates of our hospitals and find the road left to the nice flowered structure with a fountain in front where those that can afford it go to that structure and someone goes sheepishly in the other direction towards the HSE hospital.” I would have an image of a shiny welcome (for private patients only) sign at the foot of the road to the private hospital - that details the 42% tax exemption, the lack of A&E facilities, the cherry picking of patients. On the battered sign opposite you would find a welcome sign to the public hospital.

4. What aspect of your job gives you most satisfaction and what aspect would your rather do without?

The most satisfying aspect of my job is working with communities in County Wicklow to create a better life for all. I could definitely live without all the bureaucracy and red tape.

5. Wicklow 400 - has it been a year to remember or a year to forget?

I have lots of good memories - the pageant in Newcastle and the meeting in Dunlavin being among them.

6. As it is coming near to Christmas, can you suggest a suitable gift for each of the following:

Pat Rabbitte : Maybe a few training sessions with Bray boxer Katie Taylor to help him stay fighting fit for the next General Election.

Mary Harney: A gift to “Train a Nurse” from Oxfam Ireland Unwrapped! www.oxfamirelandunwrapped.com/ has great gift ideas where the gift itself goes to a family or a community in the developing world who really need it.

Michael McDowell - The book “How to win friends and influence people”

Eddie Sheehy - A framed picture of Greystones Harbour.

Enda Kenny - For Mayo to win the All- Ireland.

7. If time travel were possible, what event in history would you most like to have witnessed first hand and why?

I would like to have been at the first reading of the proclamation outside the GPO in 1916

8. You recently returned from a trip to Calcutta with the Hope Foundation. Can you tell us a little about that?

It was a life altering experience - to see the dignity and courage of street children living in abject poverty and to see Irish and Indian people working together to give them hope of a better future.

9. If you were stranded on a desert island, what 3 items would you want with you?

My moisturiser. My Parliamentary Assistant. A very large television set.

10. Finally, if you had to make an “elevator pitch” (10 to 15 seconds) to convince a floating voter to vote Labour in the next election, what would you say?

A vote for Labour is a vote for a fair society. Ireland can do better. We in Labour have set out ambitious goals - to end child poverty; to create a top class health service; to guarantee the right to read; to end homelessness; and to clean up politics as well as to clean up the environment.