The Taoiseach sent Mary Lou McDonald flowers as she recovered from a hysterectomy, the Sinn Féin leader has revealed. 

In June, the Dublin Central TD posted on social media that she had undergone an operation and would be taking time off to recover. 

This week, Deputy McDonald returned to work and said she is “fully recovered now” and quoted singer Mark Twain who once said, ‘Rumours of my demise are greatly exaggerated’. 

“I had messages from both the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste,” she told journalists at a press conference. 

“As a matter of fact, the Taoiseach sent me flowers - which I thought was very nice - and I had good wishes from people across the board.”

'A serious procedure'

The operation was carried out after doctors told Deputy McDonald they had discovered tumours and her womb and ovaries were removed via keyhole surgery. 

In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 31.7% of American women over the age of 50 have had a hysterectomy. 

“I went through a procedure that’s a serious procedure but lots and lots of women have gone through this procedure - some of them in far more traumatic circumstances than I,” Deputy McDonald said. 

“I’m in great health and, to be honest with you, for the very most part across politics, people are decent and people are kind when it comes to people’s personal health. 

“Was there gossip, was there speculation? Maybe there was - but that’s okay. 

“I’m not going to get hung up on that.” 

Following her return to Leinster House, the Sinn Féin President said she was “more determined than ever to lead the change that I know you [the public] so desperately want to see.”

Main image: Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Mary Lou McDonald. Credit: RollingNews.ie/Alamy Live News.