Sinn Féin is facing controversy on a number of fronts and the resignation of TD Brian Stanley, the chairman of the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), from the party has added to the issues it faces on both sides of the Border.
As of Wednesday morning, Mr Stanley has issued three statements (Saturday, Monday and Wednesday) about the matter, while Sinn Féin issued statements on Sunday and Monday evening. Party leader Mary Lou McDonald did a round of media interviews on Monday morning and then addressed the Dáil on Tuesday.
Here’s what we know so far about the Laois-Offaly deputy’s departure from the party.
October 2023
An incident is alleged to have taken place involving Mr Stanley which led to a long-standing Sinn Féin member making a complaint about him to the party. The incident is alleged to have happened on October 11th. A counter allegation relates to an alleged incident two days later on October 13th.
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July 26th-August 3rd
Mr Stanley has said in his media statements that the complaint was lodged with the party on July 26th, which was the first day of a 10-day nomination window for general election candidates. He argues it was not possible for him to seek to be put on the Sinn Féin ticket as a result of the complaint.
In a statement on Sunday, Sinn Féin said the complaint was made at the end of July, but Ms McDonald on Monday told RTÉ's Morning Ireland that a statement from the complainant was received on August 2nd. Sinn Féin later clarified that the initial contact from the complainant was on July 26th and a full statement followed on August 2nd.
[ Mary Lou McDonald: ‘I’m not pretending for a second that mistakes weren’t made’Opens in new window ]
Ms McDonald said Mr Stanley was told of the complaint on August 3rd and that he rejected it at that point.
Sinn Féin says the information it had to hand at the time did not suggest there were any criminal implications and, therefore, An Garda Síochána was not informed, but that if it had any suggestion of a crime being committed, it would have gone to the force.
A disciplinary process was initiated, headed up by a barrister who is a Sinn Féin member and two other members who are not party officials. Ms McDonald says the process itself “falls on the watch of the party chair”, Declan Kearney MLA.
Late July/Early August:
Ms McDonald says she was made aware in early August that there was a complaint, but was not told the nature of it, which she says is proper and important to preserve the independence of the disciplinary process.
The complaint was first flagged on July 29th during a brief exchange between Mr Stanley and Ms McDonald. Ms McDonald has said the complaint is discussed during this exchange and she stressed that any investigation must be allowed to run its course.
August-September:
On August 1st, the party says it informed the complainant about the process around filing a formal complaint. This formal complaint was received on August 2nd. The inquiry takes place, involving written submissions and meetings with Mr Stanley and the complainant. Mr Stanley is accompanied by a solicitor and barrister in his engagements with the panel.
The TD has latterly characterised the inquiry as resembling “a type of kangaroo court”. He blames a “certain clique” in the party for going to extreme lengths to damage his reputation and character. Sinn Féin has stood over the integrity of the process.
[ Analysis: Sinn Féin woes pile up with latest revelationsOpens in new window ]
September 11th:
In its statement on Sunday, Sinn Féin said more information and a counter allegation came to light during the preliminary stages of the inquiry. Mr Stanley said on Monday that he and his solicitor brought “serious matters” to the attention of the inquiry panel on September 11th, which he says should have been referred to gardaí. Sinn Féin say he was told to bring the matter to the Garda then.
Ms McDonald said more legal advice was sought as this unfolded. However, in one of its statements Sinn Féin said it sought further legal advice “at the same time” as the report was furnished to the complainant and Mr Stanley – which did not happen until early October.
October 4th:
Preliminary findings are written up and drafts are circulated to both parties detailing the disputed and undisputed facts, the nature of the complaint and the nature of the counter allegation.
Sinn Féin has been asked the precise date when the report was sent out and whether any further information has come to light since this date which may have ultimately prompted a referral to the Garda.
The party has been asked precisely when new legal advice was sought, who provided it, when it was provided and whether either the new information or the counter allegation contained information or allegations which could be criminal in nature.
October 12th:
With responses due back by Monday, October 14th, Mr Stanley resigns from the party. In turn, the matter is handed to the party chair, Mr Kearney. Ms McDonald says she was fully briefed for the first time that evening. The disciplinary process is suspended due to Mr Stanley’s resignation, with no formal findings recorded.
October 13th:
Sinn Féin issues a statement outlining that the process has been suspended and the matter referred to the Garda. Ms McDonald later says she was a party to this decision.
October 14th:
On the morning of Monday, October 14th, The Irish Times reports that a Sinn Féin internal inquiry into the allegations against Mr Stanley had reached a preliminary conclusion of gross misconduct. Those draft findings had been circulated the previous week.
During the day, members of the Public Accounts Committee, of which Mr Stanley is chair, say they will not co-operate with a new Sinn Féin chair until the party answers questions. Mr Stanley issues a statement saying he welcomes the fact that Sinn Féin had “belatedly referred the ‘complaint’ and matters concern it to gardaí”. He said he stood over his comments about the party’s handling of the process.
Later on Monday, Sinn Féin issued a statement in response saying Mr Stanley had been invited to refer matters to gardaí “but chose not to”, in a sign that the row was deepening.
October 15th:
Ms McDonald addressed the multiple crisis engulfing the party in Dáil statements, and provided further information about the situation with Mr Stanley. She said “the complaint made against Deputy Stanley is very serious” and “relates to an incident that took place in October 2023″. She said Mr Stanley’s “personal behaviour” had left “the complainant, in her words, traumatised and distressed”.
“In the course of the inquiry into the complaint against Deputy Stanley, he raised a counter allegation against the complainant and a very serious one. The allegation caused deep concern, and Deputy Stanley was advised that he should go to the gardaí, he chose not to,” Ms McDonald said.
“And let me say this, just to be absolutely clear, Deputy Stanley is responsible for his behaviour, and he must account for it.”
It also emerges that the document given to gardaí contains copies of text messages between the relevant parties.
October 16th:
Mr Stanley issues a statement in which he accuses Ms McDonald of abusing Dáil privilege “in a desperate attempt to shift the focus” away from her party’s problems. He said there has been “days of inaccurate statements and insinuations from Sinn Féin, along with selective briefings delivered with the clear intention of damaging my reputation and to shift the spotlight off the party”.
He says it was “deliberately kept from me that there was even a complaint” and he “wasn’t informed officially that there was a complaint until July 31st and this followed a letter from my solicitor to Sinn Féin to demand official confirmation as to the existence of one”.
What happens next?
Sinn Féin is understood to be preparing to remove Mr Stanley from his role as PAC chairman. The committee is due to meet on Thursday, but members have indicated they will not co-operate with the appointment of a new Sinn Féin chair.
Sinn Féin is entitled to appoint another TD to the position given the convention is that the largest Opposition party in the Dáil picks the chair of the committee.
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