Sinn Féin: ‘No questions’ over McDonald’s leadership

‘No questions over Mary Lou McDonald’s leadership’

Michelle O’Neill has said there are “no questions” over her party president’s leadership of Sinn Féin.

On Tuesday, Mary Lou McDonald defended Sinn Féin’s decision not to reveal that former Senator Niall Ó Donnghaile had been suspended for sending inappropriate texts to a teenage boy when he stepped down last year.

O’Neill said she was “very confident” her party can stand over how it dealt with the issue.

The party has come under pressure in recent weeks over its handling of child safeguarding issues.

“I think Mary Lou has set out very categorically everything that we knew and when we knew it in the Dáil statement yesterday,” O’Neill said.

“Everything that we know is now on the public record,” she added.

O’Neill said she is “trying to be as transparent, and open, and frank” as possible.

“We are a human organisation made up of people; any organisation will have many challenges at different times,” she said.

Asked whether there are any outstanding cases where party members are being, or have been, investigated over similar concerns, she replied there are “certainly no other” cases that the party is engaged in.

‘Crisis within Sinn Féin’

PA Emma is wearing a light blue blazer and navy vest top underneath. 
She has long black hair and is wearing dangly gold earrings. PA

Emma Little-Pengelly says there are “transparency” issues

The deputy First Minister, Emma Little-Pengelly, said that “ultimately this isn’t a crisis of institutions, it is a crisis within Sinn Féin”.

Little-Pengelly said Sinn Féin need to “get their house in order” and that “no organisation should operate with a cloak of secrecy”.

When it comes to safeguarding of children, “there are very serious questions for Sinn Féin to answer”, she said.

“It is really important that everyone steps up with full transparency and honesty to answer these serious questions.”

She added that there are “serious concerns” about the internal mechanisms of Sinn Féin and a “lack of transparency”.

The deputy First Minister said that the party faced a “crisis of confidence” and that there are “legitimate political questions” to be asked.

However, she said it was her intention to “continue to try to ensure stability” at Stormont.

‘Context of mental health crisis’

Mr Ó Donnghaile confirmed in a statement to the Irish News on Tuesday that he sent an inappropriate text to a youth member of the party, a 17-year-old boy in Northern Ireland.

The message is believed to have been personal in nature but not sexually explicit.

Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty has said he accepts that “full information” around Niall Ó Donnghaile’s resignation was not provided by the party.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Doherty said this decision was made in the context of someone who has been through a mental health crisis.

Doherty said that given there was no finding of illegality or criminality, a decision was made that it would not be in Mr Ó Donnghaile’s mental health interests to name him at that time.

However he added: “Mr Ó Donnghaile faced the full rigours of the party and the matter was referred to the PSNI as soon as it was established that the complainant was under the age of 18.

“He would have been suspended immediately from the party.”

Doherty said that “people now know why that full information was not provided”.

‘Hiding behind excuses’

PA Images Máiría Cahill stands in front of the camera. She has blonde hair, a grey jacket and a colourful scarf. Her expression is neutral.PA Images

Máiría Cahill says she has been “disturbed” by the recent behaviour of Sinn Féin

Former Irish Labour senator Máiría Cahill has said McDonald hid behind the “excuse of mental health”.

She says she was raped as a teenager by an IRA man and that Sinn Féin and the IRA tried to cover it up.

The former senator has been outspoken in her criticism of how the party handled the allegations.

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster’s Good Morning Ulster programme, she said she was “disturbed” by the recent behaviour of Sinn Féin.

“I’d just like to remind people that there’s a young person at the centre of all of this watching it all play out so Sinn Féin have a responsibility to conduct itself properly and I don’t believe that they have done so,” she said.

The former Labour senator was in the Dáil (Irish Parliament) public gallery on Tuesday during the statements made on child protection.

Reflecting on McDonald’s statement, she said: “What the party did yesterday was try to excuse and explain away its behaviour.”

“I don’t think that’s acceptable,” she added.

Source link

  • Related Posts

    Rights groups say 135 killed in Nzérékoré

    Human rights…

    Read more

    Future tax rises won’t be needed, insists Rachel Reeves

    The chancellor…

    Read more

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    You Missed

    Tulisa ‘overwhelmed’ by attention from ITV show

    • December 4, 2024
    Tulisa ‘overwhelmed’ by attention from ITV show

    Vogue boss Anna Wintour on her public persona and being told ‘no’

    • December 4, 2024
    Vogue boss Anna Wintour on her public persona and being told ‘no’

    BBC to pull MasterChef Christmas specials after allegations

    • December 3, 2024
    BBC to pull MasterChef Christmas specials after allegations

    ‘Roll your eyes if you want, I’m a star’ says nominee

    • December 3, 2024
    ‘Roll your eyes if you want, I’m a star’ says nominee

    ‘Reality TV show Meet the Rees-Moggs is a calculated risk’

    • December 2, 2024
    ‘Reality TV show Meet the Rees-Moggs is a calculated risk’

    BBC should consider pausing Masterchef over allegations, says Rupa Huq MP

    • December 2, 2024
    BBC should consider pausing Masterchef over allegations, says Rupa Huq MP