Sinn Féin has affirmed that its internal records reveal the individual at the heart of the scandal involving Niall Ó Donnghaile was 17 at the time of receiving improper messages from the erstwhile Senator. Ciarán Cannon, a Fine Gael TD, and ex-Labour Senator Maíríá Cahill have, even in the Dáil, publicly expressed their opinion that the person involved was, in reality, 16 when the incident occurred. This challenges the account given on Tuesday by Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Féin leader, during a discussion on child safety. She also confirmed Mr Ó Donnghaile’s resignation from the party after sending these messages.
She further added that the situation “involves a case where a text of an unacceptable nature was sent to a 17-year-old by a Sinn Féin Representative”. When questioned about the individual’s age during the communication, a spokesperson for Sinn Féin stated: “He was 17. This is confirmed by our internal records at the time of the incident happened. He was under age, so we referred the issue to the PSNI and Social Services.”
Permission was requested from Sinn Féin to validate the accuracy of their seeming correct records. In response, a spokesperson stated: “We support our records, the involved party provided these details,” adding that the person had asked that their privacy be accorded and no steps taken that would disclose their identity.
The PSNI expressed that they conducted safeguard assessments and engaged with other legal bodies but no formal complaint was registered.
McDonald informed the Dáil that there was no illegality discovered and no legal charges were pressed, but Mr Ó Donnghaile’s behaviour was not tolerated by Sinn Féin. This was conveyed to him in a meeting on October 5th of last year, following which, he agreed to resign from both the Seanad and the party.
The party verified that in the months prior to last September, the teenager had spoken about the matter with the party’s youth section. Mr Ó Donnghaile was removed from the party in the same month due to this issue, however, he did not leave the Seanad until late December. Despite praising his efforts, party leader Ms McDonald wouldn’t reveal what had truly occurred during Mr Ó Donnghaile’s suspension.
Ms McDonald, in her speech in the Dáil addressed that previous September a party councilor was given a complaint that Mr Ó Donnghaile had sent inappropriate texts to an underaged male member of the party. According to sources, the young man had divulged the occurrence of such messages in the preceding months.
In regards to this, a Sinn Féin spokesperson claimed that the minor did confer about this matter with his colleagues in Ógra weeks before 11th September, when he approached the party and the issue was passed onto the PSNI.
Upon his consultation with Sinn Féin, the teenager was counselled to keep all messages on his phone, which would be needed in the PSNI’s examination. The party then referred the issue to PSNI and Social Services. The family then reassured the party that the texts had been presented to the PSNI for their scrutiny.
Questions arose about why this was not brought to Garda’s notice considering the fact that Mr Ó Donnghaile was technically in Seanad three times a week. However, because the texts were dispatched to a minor in the North, the complaint was thus forwarded to the PSNI and Social Services for joint scrutiny.
In a separate account, Holly Cairns, the leader of the Social Democrats, suggested that Ms McDonald should withdraw her praise-filled statement about Mr Ó Donnghaile from when he resigned in December of the previous year.