People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Richard Boyd Barrett says his treatment for throat cancer has been “successful” and the disease had been “eliminated”.
Mr Boyd Barrett said on Friday he had undergone a scan in the past week that confirmed his treatment for throat cancer had been a success.
“I got a scan in the last week or so which says the treatment has been successful and has eliminated the cancer,” he told RTÉ Radio 1’s Claire Byrne show.
“I will have to be monitored closely, check-ups every three months for the next five years but they are saying it’s worked. It’s as good a result for the treatment I got as you can get.”
The Dún Laoghaire TD said the treatment had been “harsh” and that side effects were substantial but he would slowly start easing himself back into work.
Mr Boyd Barrett stepped back from political life in April to undergo treatment after revealing he had been diagnosed with throat cancer.
He said at the time he would undergo a course of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, adding that the form of cancer is “curable … I’ve a good chance”.
He was told eight or nine of every 10 patients with this type of cancer recover, he said. However, he admitted the diagnosis had been a “huge shock” but was “heartened by the confidence of the doctors”.
Mr Boyd Barrett said he noticed a lump on his neck in October 2024 during last year’s general election campaign and had it investigated before Christmas.
He was operated on to have his tonsils removed and a biopsy was performed on tissue, which revealed the cancer diagnosis.
He said he had been told that the cancer has spread to his lymph nodes, but no further and that he expected to take three to four months off work.
“The doctors were adamant that I was not to work,” he said at the time. Former People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Bríd Smith helped in his office during his absence.
“I wanted to explain it because if I just disappeared, people, the constituents who elected me, would be wondering where I’m gone, so I wanted to do them the service of telling them.
“The people who voted for People Before Profit deserve to know if I’m not around. And I just want to stress, I plan to be back as soon as possible.”
[ Richard Boyd Barrett on his cancer treatment: ‘It is going to be very difficult to eat. That is what worries me most’Opens in new window ]
Mr Boyd Barrett has been a TD for Dún Laoghaire since 2011, and is the parliamentary leader of the People Before Profit-Solidarity group.
One of the Dáil’s most outspoken TDs, he is a familiar critic of the Government on the airwaves on a range of issues.
