Mary Lou McDonald accused of ‘cover-up’ of disgraced senator

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has been accused of an “elaborate cover-up” over the “secret suspension” of disgraced former senator Niall Ó Donnghaile.

Mr Ó Donnghaile revealed on Tuesday that he was the person suspended from the party for sending inappropriate text messages to a 17-year-old.

Despite being suspended from Sinn Féin on September 12 last year, a day after the 17-year-old boy’s complaint was received, he remained a senator until December 21, when he ‘resigned’ on health grounds. Ms McDonald was informed of the complaints against him the next day but subsequently paid tribute to him as he announced his departure from the Seanad, praising his “valuable contribution” to the Oireachtas and wishing him well in the future.

Ms McDonald told the Dáil on Tuesday that inappropriate messages had been sent a second time by Mr Ó Donnghaile, this time to an adult, which was also reported to the party during the investigation – but no formal complaint was made.

Oireachta records show Mr Ó Donnghaile claimed more than €5,000 in travel expenses during his ‘secret suspension’ from the party until his resignation from the Seanad. Mr Ó Donnghaile – who received an annual senatorial salary of €79,614 – also received an annual top-up of €6,875 for being the party’s leader in the Seanad.

Tánaiste and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin accused Ms McDonald of ‘misleading’ the Oireachtas. He said: ‘For the first time, Sinn Féin has revealed that Donnghaile was suspended from the party after ‘inappropriate’ text messages to a teenager, which were referred to the PSNI. But when party leader Mary Lou McDonald paid tribute to the senator’s resignation last December, she spoke only about the health problems he had faced.

‘It appears the Oireachtas have been misled about the full reasons for Senator Niall Ó Donnghaile’s resignation, following actions the party itself described as “unacceptable”.

“The party’s record of secrecy and secrecy is shocking. We have seen it before with the disgraceful treatment of Máiría Cahill, Paudie McGahon, the cover-up over Liam Adams and the handling of senior press officer Michael McMonagle. It’s clear that when it comes to Sinn Féin, the party always comes first. It is clear that Sinn Féin has once again failed to tell the truth about a very serious matter and appears to have been involved in a very extensive cover-up.”

A minister told the Irish Daily Mail on Tuesday evening that Sinn Féin had ‘secretly punished’ their disgraced senator but allowed him to continue claiming expenses. The source said: “When we crack the whip on people, it’s public. Did Sinn Féin just take the whip away from the Senator but allow him to pose as a Sinn Féin Senator on the Seanad website, Seanad Roll, the Sinn Féin website and on his social media? And also let him collect a salary and expenses for those two to three months, while he always knew what he had done?

“So they basically just secretly removed the whip, didn’t tell anyone and let him continue for a few months.”

Ms McDonald came under sustained pressure in the Dáil on Tuesday during statements on child protection, where she defended her party’s handling of four separate controversies currently engulfing the party.

The party leader said Mr Ó Donnghaile was on ‘sick leave’ following his suspension and had provided a doctor’s note to that effect.

Ms McDonald released a statement praising Mr Ó Donnghaile after his resignation despite knowing he had been suspended over the inappropriate messages to a teenager, saying he had “given a voice to the northern nationalists in the Oireachtas’. diligently throughout that period, and even before that during his time as a member of Belfast City Council and as Ardmhéara Beál Feirste,” she said. “In particular, Niall has made a valuable contribution to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement,” she said.

Pressed about the statement on RTÉ’s Six One News on Tuesday evening, Ms McDonald said she meant what she said because she was, and remains, concerned about his mental health. TDs were concerned that Mr Ó Donnghaile continued to have access to Leinster House for months after Sinn Féin became aware of the allegations against him. Questioned by RTÉ at this point, Ms McDonald said he had been ill and had not been to the Oireachtas during that time. She claimed the party failed to inform others of the allegations because no criminal charges were brought and because of concerns about his mental health.

Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns said Ms McDonald’s comments after his resignation amounted to a “glowing statement” when “the reality was he resigned in disgrace… and she knew about it”. On Tuesday evening, CLG Laochra Loch Lao, a GAA club in Belfast, issued a statement saying Mr Ó Donnghaile had resigned as honorary chairman of the club. “This was an ambassadorial role that did not involve any involvement with children or vulnerable groups,” they said.

Ms McDonald confirmed the party had not informed the GAA club of the incident and stated it was not the role of a political party to do so.

Labor Party leader Ivana Bacik told the Dáil that Ms McDonald’s statements to the House of Representatives were “nothing short of unbelievable” and accused the party of “a lack of respect for victims, a culture of secrecy and cover-up… and a lack of robust processes to deal with abuse where it occurs’.

Ms Bacik raised the case of Máiría Cahill, a former Labor senator, who claimed she was subjected to a kangaroo court after being raped by an IRA man at the age of 16, ‘which forced her to confront her abuser ‘. Ms Cahill attended the debate in the Dáil public gallery.

Ms Bacik added: ‘Was there a secret suspension of former Senator Ó Donnghaile?’ she asked.

Mr Ó Donnghaile, the former mayor of Belfast, released a statement on Tuesday ahead of the Dáil statements on child protection, identifying himself as the person suspended by Sinn Féin over the inappropriate messages.

He accepted that his actions justified his resignation, had caused “great embarrassment to myself, my family, friends and former colleagues” and that as a private citizen his “main focus” was on improving his mental health and also “supporting a family member through a challenging period of ill health’.