Mary Ellen Synon

Irish journalist

Mary Ellen Synon (born 1951) is an Irish journalist. She is a frequent contributor to Irish radio current affairs programmes. Through her career, she has been an outspoken critic of the European Union and an advocate of laissez faire capitalism. Synon met George Wallace as a young woman. Synon's paternal ancestors came from the area near Doneraile, County Cork. Synon spoke to the press when he ended the affair. According to the Sunday Tribune, she said: "Yes, I adored him. Yes, I was in love with him." She also told The Guardian: "I hate the bugger." She was nicknamed 'the Bonk of England' by tabloid newspapers after she disclosed that she and Pennant Rea had had sex on the governor's dressing room floor at the Bank. The then governor Sir Eddie George allegedly had the carpet cut up. In the 1990s, Synon became a regular freelance columnist for the Dublin based Sunday Independent.

Synon has repeatedly expressed opposition to any form of socialism in her articles and has referred to Marxism as "evil". Synon has described the socialist policies of Salvador Allende in Chile as a front for Soviet control of the country, saying that was "just what the evil Allende was up to in Chile". Synon also praised Augusto Pinochet for staging the coup that ousted Allende, saying "It was a noble coup, General". Synon has also stated there is no difference between Marxism and Fascism and cited George G. Watson's book, The Lost Literature of Socialism as an indicator of this thesis. She added, "There is no polarity between Nazis and Marxists. They are the same people." Among other people she has criticised are the two female presidents of Ireland: "that other ambitious small town lady lawyer", Mary Robinson, who worked for the "headquarters of moral corruption, the United Nations"; and the "arrogant Mrs McAleese". Synon has expressed admiration for the American philosopher Ayn Rand. In 2015, Synon gave a speech to the Bruges Group where she criticised David Cameron's policy on the European Union, arguing Cameron was not doing enough to take the UK out of the E. U. In an interview on the TV show Pat Kenny Tonight, Synon said she was pleased with the victory of Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election, adding that she was "beyond thrilled" that Trump became President.

In January 1988, Synon and Frances Cairncross wrote an article from the Economist that depicted Ireland as poverty stricken and bureaucratic. The article angered both the Fianna Fáil government of the time and the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, who believed the article, published in an influential magazine, "did serious damage to the image of Ireland overseas". An unsuccessful attempt was made by a Travellers Rights Group to initiate a prosecution under the Incitement to Hatred Act.

In 2000 Synon criticised the Paralympics in Sydney. In the article, she wrote: "It is time to suggest that these so called Paralympics  are – well, one hesitates to say 'grotesque'. One will only say 'perverse'  Surely physical competition is about finding the best – the fastest, strongest, highest, all that. It is not about finding someone who can wobble his way around a track in a wheelchair, or who can swim from one end of a pool to the other by Braille." The article, which was criticised by the National Union of Journalists, was subsequently discussed in the Irish Senate where Maurice Hayes, a senator, director of Independent News & Media, which owns the Sunday Independent, and acquaintance of the controlling shareholder, said it was indefensible, indecent and hurtful: "It should not have been written and if written, it should not have been published. I know that my views are shared by my colleagues on the Independent board and in particular by the chairman." The chairman, Tony O'Reilly, and his son, Gavin O'Reilly were both attributed opinions in the matter. As a result of the controversy, Synon left the newspaper.