By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA
Senior members of the Government have called on Sinn Féin to clarify questions around a complaint made about TD Brian Stanley and other “serious” issues.
The party has been dogged by a series of controversies in recent weeks, including the fallout around former party press officer Michael McMonagle, and revelations that an unnamed Sinn Féin member resigned from the party after allegedly sending inappropriate messages to a 17-year-old.
McMonagle (42), from Limewood Street in Derry, admitted a series of offences, including attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.
The party has come under pressure over references provided to McMonagle by two former press officers for a job with the British Heart Foundation.
At the weekend, it emerged that Laois-Offaly TD Mr Stanley, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, had resigned from the party and would run as an independent in the next general election.
Sinn Féin said a complaint made about Mr Stanley and a “serious” counter-allegation were referred to An Garda Síochána on Sunday.
On Tuesday afternoon at 4pm, statements are due to be given in the Dáil about child protection issues, which Government ministers have said provides Sinn Féin with a chance to clarify matters.
Speaking on his way into Cabinet on Tuesday, Taoiseach Simon Harris said that “political potshots” should not be taken when the issues at hand were “so serious and so grave”.
“What we shouldn’t see today is whataboutery, we shouldn’t see political theatrics,” he said.
“What we should see today is the leader of Sinn Féin take the opportunity to answer basic questions around the timeline, around process and around extraordinarily serious issues to do with the protection of children. We shouldn’t need to have a drip-feed of information.
“I’ve consistently said I believe the leader of Sinn Féin – my political difference aside – to be a decent person, and today is an opportunity to put all the information out on the table, for once and for all.
“I’ve been asked about Sinn Féin now for about two weeks on an almost daily basis. There’s an opportunity today to provide the information on what are extraordinarily serious and grave issues, and I hope Deputy McDonald takes that opportunity and does the right thing.”
Tánaiste Micheál Martin said that “generally, Sinn Féin’s processes have been very secret”.
“Sinn Féin always puts the party first, and I’ve been saying this for quite a long time, so they do need to look at their internal processes and this sort of culture of secrecy around almost everything it does,” he said.
Green Party leader and Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman said that the matter was “vague”.
“I think there are still more questions than answers out there at the moment, I think it would be useful for Sinn Féin just to clarify why they went to the gardaí now and didn’t go to the gardaí in August in terms of their understanding of the seriousness of the allegations,” he said.
“I think it would also be useful for Deputy Stanley to provide clarification as well.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Fianna Fáil TD James O’Connor told Newstalk radio that he felt Sinn Féin was not being honest with the public about what was going on in relation to Mr Stanley.
“I want to hear why Sinn Féin felt it necessary to refer the matter to the gardaí and why did they only refer the matter to the gardaí after [Mr Stanley] resigned.”
“What we want to see is clarity and honesty from Mary Lou McDonald as to what is going on within their organisation in regards to this, because I think it is important and bear in mind the role of the PAC and the work that needs to be done within that committee is incredibly important, as is the role of chairperson.”
Mr O’Connor said he had been in contact with members of Sinn Féin and it appeared that “nobody democratically elected to the party seems to be fully briefed as to what the actual internal investigation was about.”
A “second round” of statements from Sinn Féin and Mr Stanley now showed that the original timelines had been “completely inaccurate”, the Cork East TD added.
It now appeared that it was only after Mr Stanley resigned that the decision was made by Sinn Féin to refer the matter to the gardaí, he said.
“Sinn Féin are not being honest with the people as regards what has gone on within their organisation around what has happened to Deputy Stanley. We've seen very clearly from the statements that have come that Deputy Stanley feels that what has been carried out is a kangaroo court. I also want to refer to the fact that this is not the first time this has happened within Sinn Féin.”
Mr O’Connor said it was “extraordinarily concerning” that internal investigations were carried out over a period of six to seven weeks before the issue became public knowledge.
The timing of the decision to refer the matter to the gardaí was very significant, he said, coming as it did after Mr Stanley resigned from the party.
Mr Stanley's resignation from Sinn Féin 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. – Additional reporting: Vivienne Clarke
