'I don’t protest at the drop of a hat' - Clare Daly

She is never far from controversy in her unerring crusade to challenge the establishment.

From exposing the Garda penalty points scandal, to her arrest at Shannon Airport,Independent TD Clare Daly isn't afraid to rock the boat wherever she believes there is injustice and inequality.

As a young councillor, Daly served a month in the women's prison at Mountjoy for her part in a protest against bin charges - and it was there that she became familiar with the stories of inmates from tough areas and how they ended up on the wrong side of the tracks.

But in an exclusive interview with The Sunday Business Post this weekend, Daly insists:“I don’t protest at the drop of a hat. I challenge the system. There’s plenty of people out there propping up the status quo. We don’t need somebody else doing that.

"And people say ‘oh you’re against everything’. Well no, I’m not actually. I’m for loads of things, I just happen to be against a lot of the established order."

But constantly working to keep powerful orthodoxies in place comes with a price.

"Do I think people are out to get me? No I don’t. But do I think that we’re watched? Yes, I do, yeah. But, you know, it goes with the territory,"she says.

For the full revealing interview, don't miss Clare Daly in conversation with Fearghal O'Connor, only in this weekend's Sunday Business Post.