LAST UPDATE | 21 Oct

MARY LOU MCDONALD will correct the Dáil record about her statement last week regarding the resignation of her party’s former Senator Niall Ó Donnghaile, and issue an “unequivocal” apology to the young person involved. 

Speaking in the Dáil last week, McDonald said:

“On September 11, 2023 a party councillor received a complaint that an inappropriate message had been sent by Niall Ó Donnghaile to a 17-year-old male party member.”

The teenager told the Sunday Independent that he was 16 when he received the text messages. 

Speaking earlier today, McDonald said that she would be correcting the record, and issuing an unequivocal apology to the young person in question.

“He’s a young person who ought to have been, who deserved to be fully comfortable in Sinn Féin. What happened was wrong, Niall Ó Donnghaile’s behaviour was unacceptable and utterly inappropriate, and no young person should have experienced that,” she said.

Taoiseach Simon Harris has accused the Sinn Féin leader today of being “silent” on the calls from the young person at the centre of the matter to apologise to him for the handling of the incident.

Speaking in the Stormont Assembly today, Sinn Féin vice president and First Minister Michelle O’Neill insisted party records said the teenager was 17.

She told MLAs: “All child protection protocols were followed with an immediate referral to the PSNI and also to social services. The protection of the young person was absolutely our primary concern.

“Niall O Donnghaile was held accountable and faced serious consequences for his totally unacceptable and totally inappropriate behaviour, and I’m deeply sorry and angry that this young person has had to endure any of this inappropriateness or this unacceptable behaviour.

“Also, I can confirm that according to our records the young person was, in fact, 17. That’s the records which we have in our files in terms of membership.”

McDonald said that O’Neill was correct in saying that the party’s records indicate that the person was 17 at the time of the complaint, but that what was important now was responding to the young person in question and correcting the Dáil record.

Speaking at the launch of the Dublin City Taskforce report, Harris said he wants to know what the Sinn Féin leader will do following the teenager’s statement to the newspaper.

Harris said the teenage boy has “called for the leader of the Opposition to directly and sincerely – his words – apologise to him.”

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said that it was entirely appropriate for McDonald to correct the Dáil records, but that “what’s been made very clear that this is a party that does not have the appropriate structures in place, and that really is not fit for government”.

Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman said today: “In terms of the focus on the statement that Deputy McDonald put out at the time that Senator O Donnghaile resigned, I still feel her judgment was flawed there, in terms of the level of praise she heaped upon him in light of the reason that he was leaving Sinn Féin.

“I think the opportunity to clarify the point, particularly on the age of the victim in this, when these texts were sent, I think there may be an opportunity for Deputy McDonald to clarify the record of the house.”

The government leaders also appeared to row back from any plans to block the nomination of Mairead Farrell as chairwoman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) following the removal of TD Brian Stanley from the committee.

The Dáil will this week consider a motion to make Farrell the chairwoman of the committee.

Harris said the government is not “overly concerned” about Oireachtas committee chairs, particularly when the lifetime of the Dáil is limited.

“Deputy Farrell is a very competent individual in her own right,” he added.

“There’s a very competent vice chair of that committee in Deputy (Catherine) Murphy, the committee is always chaired by the opposition.

“We may or may not have an opportunity to discuss that tonight. It’s certainly not the most pressing issue on my agenda this evening.

“I’m not sure it’s the most pressing issue on the agenda for others. We have a lot of things we want to talk about.”

O’Gorman agreed with Harris’s comments, saying he will speak to the Green Party whip Marc O Cathasaigh about the issue later today.

With reporting by Press Association