The young person at the centre of the Niall Ó Donnghaile controversy has said Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald owes an apology for the party’s “disastrous” handling of the matter.
The young person, who was sent inappropriate text messages by Mr Ó Donnghaile, the party’s leader in the Seanad at the time, provided a timeline of events which appears to contradict answers given in the Dáil by Ms McDonald. The party leader is now facing calls to correct the Dáil record.
Speaking publicly for the first time, the young person, who is based in Northern Ireland, said the senator began interacting with them online in early 2023 and that by spring, they were “being asked inappropriate requests and questions”.
Crucially, they said they were 16 at the time, making them legally a child in Northern Ireland.
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They said they knew Mr Ó Donnghaile’s actions were wrong “but was originally fearful of reporting it to the central party as the safety culture of the party was visibly not present”.
They said they made their concerns known to the party and had to “silently endure watching when Niall stood down for ‘health reasons’ when I knew the truth.
“This was painful and frustrating. It mentally impacted me and at times brought me to dark spaces, at a time when I was supposed to be enjoying starting sixth form and living a normal teenage life.”
Ms McDonald’s “glowing tribute” to the outgoing senator at this time felt like a “mental stab”, they said in the statement which was first published in the Sunday Independent.
“All of this demonstrates the hypocrisy of Sinn Féin and their failure to protect me and others in line with child protection policies.”
He said Mr Ó Donnghaile has admitted his inappropriate exchanges and that Sinn Féin has admitted “to keeping him in his role after the investigation, until December 2023.
“Sinn Féin has also admitted to knowing about my concerns weeks before this investigation, when I reported it to my adult peers in Ógra Sinn Féin.”
They said the situation will not truly come to an end unless an apology is forthcoming.
The controversy is one of several political crises impacting the party as it faces into a general election. A poll published by the Sunday Times shows Sinn Féin’s support has dropped to 16 per cent.
Taoiseach Simon Harris said Ms McDonald should correct the Dáil record in relation to the age of the teenager. “Of course she should correct the Dáil record but much more importantly than that she should respond directly to the young teenager who was a victim of unsolicited inappropriate contact by an elected Sinn Féin representative,” he said.
Mr Harris noted the teenager had asked for a “sincere and direct apology” from the Sinn Féin leader.
“I know her [Ms McDonald] to be a decent person and I hope she rises to that challenge and meets that request of the teenager. It’s the absolute least that she can do at this stage,” he said.
Fine Gael’s Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, who is Minister of State with responsibility for EU Affairs, accused Ms McDonald of providing “completely wrong information” about the teenage victim, including saying they were 17 at the time, instead of 16.
“Why did Sinn Féin continue to push this falsehood? Why didn’t they alert An Garda Síochána as to the activities of their senator? They were well able to call the Guards out of an ‘abundance of caution’ in the case of Brian Stanley,” said Ms Carroll Mac Neill.
“Sinn Féin have tried to hide, run and cover up on the shameful Niall Ó Donnghaile episode since details emerged eight days ago. Last Monday night, we had the spectre of a senior front bench Sinn Féin TD saying they did not know who this party colleague was. Pull the other one.”
Last week Sinn Féin maintained that its records show the young person at the centre of the Niall Ó Donnghaile controversy was 17 when he received inappropriate messages from its former Senator.
Fine Gael TD Ciarán Cannon and former Labour Senator Maíríá Cahill have publicly said, including on the floor of the Dáil, that the individual was in fact 16 at the time.
Ms McDonald told the Dáil on Tuesday that Mr Ó Donnghaile had resigned after sending the messages and said the matter “relates to an incident where a Sinn Féin representative sent inappropriate text messages to a 17-year-old”.
During an appearance on RTÉ's The Week in Politics it was put to Sinn Féin TD Louise O’Reilly that her party had insisted that the teenager was 17 and she was asked if it would correct the Dáil record.
“The information that was given to us by the young person was that they were 17 and that’s what was in Mary Lou McDonald’s speech on Tuesday of this week,” Ms O’Reilly said. “That was the information that we had. It was as we understood it. There’s no further action required”.
Asked again if Ms McDonald would correct the Dáil record she replied: “She [Ms McDonald] gave the information accurate as she knew it at the time and based on information that had been given to us by the young person.”
She also said: “Mary Lou McDonald has said herself that she is hurt and angry by what had happened.
“We all are and moreso this individual involved and that is why, because we take child protection very seriously that is why an immediate referral was made to the PSNI and to the social care services because those are the authorities responsible.”
Asked about the matter not being referred to the gardaí she said the incident took place in the North. “So the PSNI are the governing authority and it was referred immediately to them.”
Put to her that Ms McDonald’s apology to the teenager was for the hurt caused rather than how the party handled the situation, Mr O’Reilly said: “Mary Lou has apologised for all of the hurt that was caused and we do and I do so again.”
She also said: “Niall Ó Donnghaile is now no longer a member of Sinn Féin, he holds no elected office. He has lost his job, he has lost his career. That sanction is entirely appropriate”.
Ms O’Reilly denied that a statement made by Ms McDonald upon Mr Ó Donnghaile’s resignation from the Seanad amounted to a “glowing” reference.
She said it was “a statement of six lines, outlining former Senator Ó Donnghaile’s career, summing it up, that’s all that it was.
“There was no glowing tribute, there was no effusive statement and there was certainly no reference given. Niall Ó Donnghaile has paid a very high price for his actions and that is entirely appropriate.”
*This article was amended on the morning of October 21st, 2024
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