SINN FÉIN TD Brian Stanley announced his surprise resignation from the party on Saturday, describing an inquiry into a complaint made against him by a party colleague as “seriously flawed”.
Since then there has been a drip-feed of information and differing accounts of when the complaint was made. It has also emerged that a counter-allegation was made during the inquiry process.
The specifics of the complaint and counter allegation have not been made public and according to Sinn Féin, the matter is now in the hands of An Garda Síochána.
With a general election coming into view, this is the latest in a number of headaches for Sinn Féin.
Here’s what we know so far:
26 July: Sinn Féin receives a complaint about Brian Stanley made by a fellow member of the party, according to a statement made through his solicitor. But Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland the complaint was formally made on 2 August.
29 July: Stanley, who is chair of the Public Accounts Committee, meets with Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald briefly, when he says he informed her of the complaint.
1 August: The party’s disciplinary committee contacts the complainant and outlines the procedures for making a formal complaint, according to a Sinn Féin spokesperson.
2 August: According to McDonald, Sinn Féin receives a formal complaint, marking the commencement of the disciplinary process, which involves a panel made up of two other senior party members and a barrister, who is also a Sinn Féin member.
A statement from Sinn Fein issued on 14 October has since confirmed the complaint was first made in late July.
11 September: According to Stanley, he and his legal team brought a counter-allegation to the inquiry panel.
Stanley has since said the party should have referred the matter to the gardaí “once both myself and my legal representative brought certain serious matters to the attention of the ‘panel’ on September 11.”
4 October: The inquiry sends both Stanley and the complainant a preliminary report on the panel’s findings so far. It includes details of the complaint and counter-allegation.
12 October: Brian Stanley resigns from Sinn Féin, becoming the second TD to quit the party in the space of a week. In a statement issued by the Laois-Offaly TD, Stanley says his decision followed a “complaint” that was made about him that led to an internal party inquiry.
Stanley questions the party’s inquiry process, claiming it “lacked objectivity” and was “seriously flawed”.
13 October: The inquiry into the complaint against Stanley is passed to gardaí, Mary Lou McDonald says in a statement, adding that the complaint was made against the Laois-Offaly TD at the end of July by a long-standing member of the party.
McDonald says that during the preliminary stages of the inquiry, further information was brought forward which resulted in a counter-allegation being made.
A statement from Sinn Féin says the complaint against Stanley was made “at the end of July by a longstanding member of the party and a panel was set up under our internal disciplinary processes to investigate the complaint”.
“During the preliminary stages of the inquiry, further information was brought forward which resulted in a counter allegation being made.
“Deputy Stanley’s rights were protected throughout this process. He had, as was his right, a solicitor and a barrister with him at the meeting with the disciplinary panel.
“A preliminary report was furnished to both individuals last week and they were given seven days to respond. At the same time outside legal advice was sought by the party.”
14 October: In an interview with RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, McDonald says the party did not initially make the garda referral when it first received the complaint because it had not been of a criminal nature.
“Had the initial complaint been of a criminal nature, it would have gone straight to An Garda Síochána” McDonald said. She adds she is happy the complaint and counter-allegation are now with the gardaí.
She also says she does not personally know the person who made a complaint against Stanley or the specifics of the complaint, adding that she had been made aware of the existence of the complaint in early August.
She says the investigatory process “is at arm’s length to the party”.
Despite Sinn Féin saying it referred of information to gardaí, The Journal understands that there is currently no active garda investigation ongoing into the matter, something that would likely only begin if an official complaint had been made by an individual.
Following McDonald’s RTÉ interview, Stanley accuses members of Sinn Féin of orchestrating a “character assassination” against him and says that the matter should have been referred to gardaí “some time” ago. He also contradicts McDonald’s account regarding when the complaint was made.
In a statement issued through his solicitor, Stanley says: “This complaint, which I refute, was lodged with the party on the very first day (26 July), that the 10-day nomination process opened for members such as myself to be put forward to contest the general election. In my case this had the effect of preventing me of having any hope of contesting it as a Sinn Féin candidate for Laois.
“It was received by Sinn Féin on the 26 July and I obtained written proof of this from them. Mary Lou McDonald has given wrong information by stating that it was only received on August 2. As a matter of fact, I made her aware in person on July 29 of it and that certain information regarding it had been circulated by party members.”
Later that evening, a statement from a party spokesperson says Stanley was advised to take the matter to the gardaí.
“On 29 July, the party leader had a brief exchange with Deputy Stanley as outlined on Morning Ireland today. In that conversation, Deputy Stanley indicated that he thought that a complaint might be made about him. The nature of the potential complaint was not discussed or disclosed,” the statement said.
“The party leader informed him that any complaint, if made, would be dealt with through the party disciplinary process.
“During the course of the preliminary inquiry a number of issues of concern were raised including one by Brian Stanley.
“He was advised to go to the gardaí to report this matter but chose not to. He was accompanied by his barrister and solicitor so was fully advised of his rights and entitlements.”
On RTÉ’s Up Front with Katie Hannon that night, Sinn Féin’s director of elections Matt Carthy says that, prior to Saturday’s announcement, he had heard no suggestion that Stanley would not be a candidate for Sinn Féin in the next general election.
With reporting from Press Association and Niall O’Connor
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say