What’s going on with the recent Sinn Féin scandals?

As party leader, Mary Lou McDonald is in the line of fire.

Who’s involved in all the drama?

Let’s look at them from above.

Michael McMonagle – The party’s former senior press officer, from Derry, admitted a series of offenses including attempting to incite a child to sexual activity. He will be sentenced in November. It subsequently emerged that two of his colleagues had provided a work reference for him while he was under investigation and kept this quiet.

Patricia Ryan – The Kildare South TD left the party claiming she was pushed out, her social media posts were censored and questions to party leaders were vetted at meetings.

Niall Ó Donnghaile — The former senator revealed he was the Sinn Féin member who left the party after allegedly sending inappropriate text messages to a teenager.

Brian Stanley – The Laois-Offaly TD and party member for forty years left Sinn Féin, claiming the internal investigation into a claim against him was akin to a ‘kangaroo court’.

How has Sinn Féin dealt with all this?

In short: very bad. Again, let’s put the scandals in order.

Michael McMonagle

Sinn Féin said it was doing everything by the book. McMonagle was suspended. The case was referred to social services and the police in the North. He was charged and will be sentenced.

Opposition parties will not accept that. They have asked whether it is credible that the party hierarchy was unaware that work references had been provided for him. Thanks in part to these references, McMonagle landed a communications job at the British Heart Foundation, which was unaware of the allegations against him.

Shortly after starting his new job, and while an investigation was still underway, McMonagle attended a British Heart Foundation event at Stormont. Prime Minister Michelle O’Neill also attended the event. A photo appeared of them standing two feet apart. She claimed she did not see him at the event or know of his new role. Once again questions are asked as to whether that answer is credible.

Patricia Ryan

Sinn Féin has tried to address all its complaints. As far as the party is concerned, they are sour grapes. The party says her nose was infected because she was asked to take part in a selection convention for the general election. Ryan, for her part, stands by her accusations of censorship and vetting and plans to act independently.

Niall Ó Donnghaile

This one is a little more complicated. Ó Donnghaile left his job as senator in December 2023 for what he said were health reasons. On October 15, Ó Donnghaile revealed that he was the party member suspended for sending inappropriate text messages to a 17-year-old man.

It also emerged that Ms McDonald gave him a “glowing” reference to his resignation, praising his performance as a party member. No mention was made of the inappropriate texts.

In its defense, Sinn Féin said it was doing everything by the book. The matter was referred to the PSNI where no further action was taken. The party defended the decision not to name him publicly in December 2023 due to concerns about his health. Ó Donnghaile has long-standing mental health problems.

Again, none of this concerns the opposition. Ms McDonald is accused of misleading the Oireachtas about the reasons for the dismissal. She has also been heavily criticized for the “glowing” reference.

Brian Stanley

This one has turned into something of a he said, she said cat fight. He still claims the investigation against him was flawed and has accused Ms McDonald of abuse of Dáil privilege, of inaccuracy and of innuendo to muddy the waters.

On October 12, Stanley resigned from the party and said he would stand as an independent candidate following a Sinn Féin internal investigation into a complaint against him. The party referred the complaint and a “serious” counter-accusation to the gardaí the following day.

Ms McDonald revealed in the Dáil that the complainant against Mr Stanley had been left “traumatised” and that the whole matter was a mess that Mr Stanley had made and that it was up to him to be honest and “take responsibility for his behavior ”.

Mr Stanley has dismissed the complaint against him, claiming he was the victim of a “character assassination” by a cabal within the party, likening it to a kangaroo court. In a new statement issued after Ms McDonald addressed the Dáíl, Mr Stanley said there was an attempt to damage his reputation and “take the spotlight” away from Sinn Féin.

We still haven’t heard the full story from Mr. Stanley, so this story still needs some time to run.

Is Mary Lou McDonald in trouble?

She certainly is. The timing couldn’t be worse, with the general election just around the corner and Sinn Féin faltering in the polls. The party should be getting ready to roll out its bright new vision for the country, but it is now parked with so much dirty laundry to be washed in the public gaze.

The whole mess has once again raised questions about Ms. McDonald’s leadership, whether she is ready for the job or is actually in full charge of the party. And if not her, who is? It also raises uncomfortable questions about the internal structures within Sinn Féin and how much progress has been made in the past – think Máiría Cahill and Liam Adams.

Does it really matter in the end?

There is understandably a media frenzy, but some very serious questions have been raised about Sinn Féin’s handling of a convicted child sex offender and wider child protection issues. It is difficult to shake this idea, because the main goal is to protect the party at all costs.

The party is undoubtedly faltering and the shine has come off leader Mary Lou McDonald. But it is difficult to read how this plays out with the public. Maybe we should wait until all the votes are counted to see how much damage has actually been done.