SINN FÉIN HAS said that it is suspending all party activity and structures within Dublin South-West following the controversy that surrounded the nomination of Paddy Holohan for mayor of South Dublin County Council. 

This means there’ll be no meetings of any section of the party in the area until further notice i.e. Cumann, Comhairle Ceantair or Council Group, pending a full review of the area.

The former MMA fighter and Sinn Féin councillor Holohan was suspended from the party for five months following comments he made on his ‘No Shame’ podcast at the start of this year. 

However, he was put forward for the position of mayor by fellow Sinn Féin councillors, in a move that more senior parliamentary members within the party such as Mary Lou McDonald and Eoin Ó Broin said they were unaware of. 

Ó Broin said he was surprised that Holohan was chosen and that he felt it was the “wrong decision”. 

He said: “I have to say I was very surprised he was put forward. Paddy received a five-month suspension for his comments which were offensive and don’t reflect our party policy. He was readmitted after the five months.”

A note to Sinn Féin members in Dublin South-West this evening said the decision to suspend all party activities in that area for the time being came “following some recent political actions taken by some members in the constituency which the Ard Chomhairle views with deep concern”.

The note added: “The National leadership intends to meet with the new Dublin Cuige/Political leadership post the AGM on Saturday 11 July to assess the situation and set the terms of reference for a full review of the area.

Elected Representatives should continue to represent their constituents fully and continue to work from their offices under covid rules.

The comments made by the councillor that emerged prior to the general election earlier this year led to his temporary suspension from the party. 

When discussing then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Holohan said he believed a “family man with children” should run the country because it would give them a better understanding of certain policies.

He also said that Varadkar was “separated from society” because of his Indian heritage, despite Varadkar being born and raised in Dublin. 

In a different edition of the same podcast, Holohan claimed that “loads” of underage girls were having sex with men in order to blackmail them.

With reporting from Christina Finn