The narrative for the past week can have only one protagonist – Sinn Féin. With scandal after scandal descending on the party, the week was nothing short of tumultuous. Daily newspaper headlines highlighted its predicaments, the worst visibility Sinn Féin could wish for just ahead of an election.
The saga started with a pervasive scandal that the party had been grappling with for weeks – the shocking revelation of its former press specialist being acknowledged by senior party members, despite having confessed to child sex offences in Belfast. This person was later noticed attending various events at Stormont, slipping under the radar.
Just when this was sinking in, the party was sideswiped late last week by a trio of new revelations. One involved Patricia Ryan, the Kildare TD, opting to resign amidst claims made by local party contributors who were allegedly instructed to refrain from posing negative queries about Mary Lou McDonald at a party gathering. Then came the troubling disclosure by the Irish Independent that an upper echelon member of the party had sent “inadequate” messages to a 17-year-old party recruit. And as if they hadn’t been rocked enough, Saturday evening brought a further surprise as Brian Stanley, Laois TD and chairman of the influential Public Accounts Committee, announced his resignation following a “kangaroo court”-type internal probe, instigated by “a specific faction within the party going to extreme lengths to tarnish my reputation and personhood”.
McDonald, the party leader, deemed the allegations levelled against Stanley as “quite grave…correlating to Deputy Stanley’s individual conduct, leaving the plaintiff, in her own expression, ‘traumatised and distressed’” during a poignant address in the Dáil on Tuesday. While Stanley refrained from discussing the grievance in detail, he levelled charges of Dáil advantage misuse at McDonald. They maintained that they had conveyed the entire situation to the gardai, inclusive of Stanley’s “counter-allegation”, leading to queries about why this was not done earlier.
And in the wings, Taoiseach Simon Harris kept everyone guessing, stating he would “coordinate with the Coalition’s leaders” prior to setting the election date, following comments made by O’Gorman.
The situation for Sinn Féin shows no signs of easing, amidst the independent ambitions of Brian Stanley making the political landscape of Laois more unpredictable, while the former Fine Gael TD, Noel Rock places his bet to make a comeback in the imminent election. The speculation surrounding the election has imposed additional strain on Sinn Féin, leading to an arguably disastrous week.
Simultaneously, the party disclosed that their erstwhile Seanad leader, identified colloquially as the “Shinner texter”, was Niall Ó Donnghaile – who stepped down from his position the previous year due to “health issues”, without any reference to suspicious messages. During his departure, a laudatory send-off from McDonald resonated in his wake. When probed by the Tánaiste about a potential misinformation about Ó Donnghaile’s departure, McDonald underlined Ó Donnghaile’s mental wellbeing and personal safety.
Admittedly, Sinn Féin struggled this week from the perspective of most.
Discord was a constant companion, with Patricia Ryan, Brian Stanley and Niall Ó Donnghaile taking turns in their fallout with Sinn Féin. It paints a fairly telling picture.
One of the seismic news of the week is Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin’s decision to get past his hesitation to support a general election this year. Whereas before Martin indicated a preference for a February election, recent developments – including the aforementioned situations – seem to have swayed him to entertain the idea of a pre-Christmas poll.
The upcoming general election could be a stumbling block for Martin, perhaps Simon Harris or even Mary Lou McDonald. What’s certain though, is that it will pose challenges to someone. This will be a test of navigation for all involved and will certainly create “winners and losers”.
Undeniably, the victors were those up against Sinn Féin and the defeated party was Sinn Féin itself. Another triumphant group consists of mortgage debtors who are poised to benefit from a decrease in their monthly dues after the European Central Bank implemented another rate reduction. Market observers are anticipating this pattern of rate slashes to persist, possibly until mid-next year. Interestingly, these circumstances can occasionally have a more enduring political impression than any amount of scandals that may arise.
In-Depth Analysis
The next edition of the newspaper will be packed with extensive commentary on Sinn Féin’s difficulties. It includes an extended weekend article on Mary Lou’s disastrously hard year and a detailed report from Cormac McQuinn who took a trip to Laois to capture the public sentiment following Brian Stanley’s step-down.
Sound bites
Could Sinn Féin’s string of controversies resonate with their primary supporters?