LAST UPDATE | 5 Nov 2022
MARY LOU MCDONALD has said she was “profoundly shocked” to hear that former Sinn Féín councillor Jonathan Dowdall was involved in gangland crime.
Speaking ahead of the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis in the RDS in Dublin today, McDonald said that had she known of involvement in criminality he wouldn’t have been allowed near her or the party.
Dowdall was a Sinn Féin councillor in 2014, but stepped down that year amid claims of bullying. In 2018, he was jailed - along with his father – for torturing a man they suspected of trying to defraud them, in January 2015.
Dowdall (44) – a married father of four with an address at Navan Road, Cabra, Dublin 7 – was due to stand trial today for the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel, alongside his friend Gerard ‘The Monk’ Hutch. However, Dowdall pleaded guilty in advance of the trial to a lesser charge of facilitating the Hutch gang by making a hotel room available ahead of the murder.
McDonald told The Journal:
Had we known that he was involved in any form of criminality, and I have to say, I was profoundly shocked, as were many, many others, to discover his criminal activity, he wouldn’t have been anywhere near Sinn Fein. He wouldn’t have been anywhere near me or anybody else.
The Sinn Féin president added that anybody involved in criminality, such as gangland violence should “face the full rigour” of the law.
‘Throw the book at them’
“Throw the book at them is what I say. I represent a constituency, as you know, that has borne the brunt of criminality and gangland violence and thuggery and there can be no truck with it. No room for it,” she said
McDonald said she is “relieved” and “pleased” to see that “the wheels of justice” are in motion.
“We leave it to the courts to deal with all of that,” she added.
When asked by The Journal about whether she thought the whole affair has been damaging to Sinn Féin, she said:
“Well, I don’t think so. I mean, I think people realise and accept, I hope, that we had no notion nor had others of the fact that this individual was involved in criminality. None at all. None at all.
“This person at one point was a person of very good standing in the north inner city of Dublin so the shock was not just ours, but more widely felt but let me just assure you, had we known, he would not have been anywhere near any of us or in the Sinn Féin party,” she said.
She was then asked if she believed that parties should be allowed to carry out Garda vetting of people who want to join Sinn Féin.
“No, no, the gardaí vet. No, no, that would be crazy,” she said.
Previously, the party’s housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said Sinn Féin had been “very, very quick to distance” themselves from Dowdall once the facts became public.
He said Dowdall was only a party member for nine months.
“I think that’s a lesson for all political parties. That when you’re selecting people, for elected office, you have to do your due diligence,” said Ó Broin.
Separately, the Sinn Féin president was also asked about the recent apology by Ó Broin over his comments calling for a senior civil servant in the Department of Finance John McCarthy to be sacked.
“I have spoken to Eoin, he is well aware that his comments were out of order,” said McDonald.
“They certainly do not represent the Sinn Féin position,” she added.
McDonald said those in the civil and public service “have a job to do”, adding that it is an essential job to inform public policy and bring a critical eye over it.
“Eoin knows he was wrong,” she told reporters, stating that he has apologised to McCarthy.
“John has graciously accepted that apology,” she said.
Party motions
Over 2,000 party delegates have gathered in the RDS for the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis today. They will be asked to vote on motions relating to party membership rule changes, Irish unity and the party’s opposition to an EU army.
The Ard Fheis, taking place in the RDS in Dublin, comes at a time when when the latest Ipsos/Irish Times poll put Sinn Féin at 35%, down one point, but still the party with the largest support.
The clár, or programme, for the weekend outlines a range of motions to be put to a vote, including changing the probationary period for new members joining the party.
Currently, new members have to serve a probationary period of six months but new proposals will be to lengthened it to a year.
Other motions members will vote on include the convening of an all-island Citizens’ Assembly on Irish unity in order “to plan and prepare for constitutional change”.
There are also calls to endorse an all-island Irish National Health Service.
Delegates will also be asked to vote for reduced transportation prices across the state and add free public transportation for under 18s.
There are also proposals for Sinn Féin to establish a Commission on the Future of the Irish Family Farm.
There is also a motion calling on the party to reiterate its opposition to an EU army and European defence budget “and moves by the Irish Government and others to facilitate such an attempt to undermine our position as a neutral state”.
On the issue of Ukraine, the Ard Comhairle of Sinn Féin calls for the “complete end to the war in Ukraine; full restoration of Ukrainian national sovereignty; an immediate withdrawal of all Russian armed forces; and, maintenance of all appropriate political and economic sanctions until these outcomes are achieved.
There are also calls for the Irish Government to “play its part” in bringing about a “global movement against apartheid in Palestine”. The party Ard Comhairle states that “momentum of the South African anti-apartheid movement is now essential to help secure the enforcement of international law, and achievement of Palestinian national, human and democratic right”.
Sinn Féin Vice President Michelle O’Neill will deliver a keynote address to delegates at 12pm today.
Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald will deliver her leader’s address at 6.30pm, which will also be broadcast live on RTÉ television.
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