Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has refused to comment on the specifics of a complaint against former party TD Brian Stanley, and said she stands over the party’s decision to refer the matter to An Garda Síochána over the weekend.
Speaking on Monday, Ms McDonald said that if the initial complaint made by a longstanding party member against Mr Stanley had been criminal in nature, it would have immediately been passed to gardaí. She said this only happened on Sunday out of “an abundance of caution”.
“I want to be clear here: I am not in a position to say whether or not the complaint or the counter-allegation meet the standard for criminal investigation. That’s not my job,” Ms McDonald said.
“I am far happier that the complaint and the counter-allegation are now in the hands of the gardaí and they can do what they deem to be appropriate.”
Ms McDonald said Sinn Féin’s investigation into the complaint, which was under the supervision of a barrister who was also a party member, concluded on October 4.
A “serious” counter-complaint surfaced during the process.
On Saturday, Mr Stanley confirmed he had quit the party. The Laois–Offaly TD, who also chairs the Public Accounts Committee, said he had recently been brought before a party inquiry, and that, due to its outcome, he would be resigning “with immediate effect”.
Mr Stanley also claimed that the party inquiry had not been impartial.
“This ‘inquiry’ has been shown to have lacked any shred of credibility, not least due to a significant abuse of process. In many ways it resembled a type of kangaroo court. Legal examination of this matter will continue,” Mr Stanley said.
In a statement on Sunday, the Sinn Féin leader insisted Mr Stanley’s rights were protected throughout the inquiry process, saying he had a solicitor and a barrister with him at the meeting with the disciplinary panel.
Ms McDonald told RTÉ radio’s on Monday that both parties to the complaint — Mr Stanley and the complainant — were originally due to come back for comment on a preliminary draft on Monday morning but that Mr Stanley resigned in the interim.
She said she was first fully briefed on the matter after his resignation on Saturday night.
“The referral to An Garda Síochána was made in an abundance of caution, because I was not happy, nor would I be happy, with the party left with a serious complaint and a serious counter-allegation,” she said.
She said she does not personally know the “longstanding member of the party” who made a complaint against Mr Stanley.
Ms McDonald said she had been made aware of the existence of the complaint in early August.
However, she said she was not aware of the specifics of the complaint, claiming the whole investigatory process “is at arm’s length to the party”.
“I make no apology to anybody for the fair, impartial observance of the rules and standards of the party,” she said.
She also said the preliminary conclusions of a party investigation into the matter had made no final findings or recommendations, including whether or not the matter should be referred to gardaí.
Ms McDonald defended her party’s internal processes, saying “the buck does stop with me”.
Responding to queries about the resignation of Brian Stanley and two former Sinn Féin press officers, she said: “I am very much in charge of this party and, as the person with whom the buck does stop, I am absolutely insistent that rules and procedures are applied rigorously.
“I appreciate this is probably an unusual thing in Irish public or political life, that actually rules exist and rules are applied, and then the consequences and fallout of those rules becomes manifest, but that’s what you’re seeing here.”
She told Morning Ireland: “I stand over the fact that our rules and procedures apply to everybody.”
She added: “We are a party that is more than fit for government. We have procedures that work, that holds people to account, and, let me say, in my opinion and in my experience, there has been far too little accountability in Irish public life and in Irish political parties.
“You see under my leadership, without fear — and I will not be cowed on this point — the rules get applied, the processes are respectful, they protect everybody’s rights.
“But where the behaviour falls beneath standards, where there has been wrongdoing, people will face the consequences for it.”
Mr Stanley is the second Sinn Féin TD to leave the party recently. On Friday, Kildare South TD Patricia Ryan confirmed she had resigned from the party.
Statement from complainant against Brian Stanley received by Sinn Féin;
Brian Stanley made aware of complaint;
Mary Lou McDonald made aware of complaint, but not made aware of its nature;
Preliminary inquiry process ongoing, during which time a “serious” counter-complaint surfaces;
Preliminary inquiry process concludes, with findings written up and sent to both Mr Stanley and the complainant;
Brian Stanley resigns, and Ms McDonald fully briefed on inquiry process for the first time;
Matter referred to gardaí.
