By Cate McCurry, PA
A complaint at the centre of a disciplinary investigation into Brian Stanley has been passed to gardaí, the Sinn Féin leader has said.
In a statement, Mary Lou McDonald said that a complaint was made against the Laois TD at the end of July by a long-standing member of the party.
She said that a panel was set up under the party’s internal disciplinary processes to investigate the complaint.
Mr Stanley announced his resignation from Sinn Féin, likening the internal disciplinary process to a kangaroo court.
He is the second TD to quit the party in the last week.
Mr Stanley, who has been a TD for Laois-Offaly since 2011 and chairman of the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee, said he is ending his 40-year association with the party and will remain as an independent “Republican TD”.
Ms McDonald said that during the preliminary stages of the inquiry, further information was brought forward which resulted in a counter allegation being made.
“Deputy Stanley’s rights were protected throughout this process. He had, as was his right, a solicitor and a barrister with him at the meeting with the disciplinary panel,” she said.
“A preliminary report was furnished to both individuals last week, and they were given seven days to respond.
“At the same time outside legal advice was sought by the party.
“The internal process has now been suspended and the issue has been passed to An Garda Siochana. Brian Stanley and the other party have been informed of this.
“We will not ignore or hide away from difficult issues when they arise.
“These are not outcomes that anyone likes to see but let me be clear we have robust procedures for dealing with these issues and they will be followed at all times and apply equally to all members of the party.”
It comes as Sinn Féin MP Lynn Boylan called on Mr Stanley to reveal the complaint made against him that led to the internal party investigation.
Ms Boylan accused him of putting out half a story.
In a statement issued on Saturday night, Mr Stanley said his decision followed a “complaint” that was made about him.
Ms Boylan said there are “checks and balances” as part of an organisation, and that Mr Stanley decided to leave before the process has concluded.
She said that the Laois TD had a barrister and solicitor present during the process and that it was “disappointing” he did not allow it to continue.
She claimed it was “deeply disingenuous and loaded” to talk about kangaroo courts when he had legal representation.
“I don’t know the nature of the allegation, he has more information about it than I do, but I know there is a disciplinary procedure,” she told Newstalk.
“If somebody is represented by a barrister and solicitor, they can't say there isn’t due process.
“Brian could end all of this today, and tell people what he was being investigated for, if he felt so hard done by. He needs to be honest and tell us.
“He could clear this up with a tweet if he wanted to.
“He’s throwing out accusations, but not giving any substance as to what the nature of those accusations are so that’s very unfair.
“There’s two sides here so Brian could clear this up if he gave context about this vendetta and what was the nature of the investigation.”
Mr Staley questioned the party’s process, claiming it “lacked objectivity” and was “seriously flawed”.
“This ‘inquiry’ has been shown to have lacked any shred of credibility, not least due to a significant abuse of process,” Mr Stanley said.
“In many ways it resembled a type of kangaroo court. Legal examination of this matter will continue.
“Considering what I have experienced and how Sinn Fein has dealt with this and other matters across the wider party in recent months, I can no longer have confidence in it.”
His resignation comes days after Kildare South TD Patricia Ryan announced she had left the party.
Ms Ryan said that her resignation was in response to the party “undermining” her.
Sinn Féin TD Pa Daly said he first became aware of Mr Stanley’s resignation on Sunday morning.
“I was disappointed to hear that Brian had tendered his resignation,” he told RTÉ’s The Week In Politics programme.
“For all his colourful colloquialisms, he had a good politics and he had a good sense of humour, and I was disappointed to hear that was what he was doing.
“I’m getting most of my information about it from what Brian actually said to the Laois website.”
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee highlighted controversies that have engulfed Sinn Féin in recent weeks, including the fallout around former party press officer Michael McMonagle and revelations that a Sinn Féin member resigned from the party after allegedly sending inappropriate messages to a 17-year-old.
“What you’ve spoken about here with (Sinn Fein) Deputy Pa Daly is a party that is not fit for government because of the structures that they don’t have in their organisation,” Ms McEntee said.
“You have, in the last number of weeks alone, a senior member that gave an individual who has been investigated and has now since admitted to child abuse, references, and we have a party leader saying they knew nothing about it.
“You have another party member who has left because they were sending inappropriate messages. Again, a party leader who apparently knew nothing about it.
“You have structures in there that have not dealt with it properly.
“You have a party member who’s leaving because she says she’s been silenced. And you now have a fourth person who’s saying that they were subject to a kangaroo court.”
