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Updated 4.10pm
SINN FÉIN has voted in favour of overhauling its rules which deal with how the party handles internal discipline, bullying, and harassment.
At this weekend’s Sinn Féin Ard Fheis, a motion was put forward to set up a new body, which will have the power to suspend or expel a party member.
The investigation committee will be able to hear complaints and recommend disciplinary action. The motion states that any member disciplined shall have a right of appeal to an appeals panel.
In addition, a member can be suspended by party chairs while a matter is being considered by the investigation committee.
A large section of Sinn Féin’s rules on the ardcomhairle’s disciplinary powers are to be deleted and their “code of ethics” is to be now called the “charter of ethics”.
Investigation committee
The rule changes come following a tumultuous two years for the party.
In February, former TD Sandra McLellan stepped down after she said the party tried to undermine her.
In an interview with the Evening Echo, she said she wanted to run again but that her job became impossible because of efforts to “undermine and malign” her.
“I wanted to run again but felt I could not put my family through any more,” she told the paper without referring to specifics.
Last October, McLellan decided not to stand for re-election, claiming she’d been on the receiving end of bullying by members of her own party. Sinn Féin’s Cork East organisation was plunged into crisis last year over the allegations.
Following an internal review in 2015, the party also expelled Kieran McCarthy.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie at the time, McCarthy said the party had stabbed him in the back and offered him no explanation for its decision.
Speaking at the Ard Fheis this afternoon, party chairperson Declan Carney said as the organisation grows it must ensure that ethics have “primacy at all times” in the party.
He said the new charter of ethics will set out “the standard of conduct for all members at all times within Sinn Fein”.
I am asking the charter is embraced and actively supported by all party members.
He said the changes represent the “modernisation of our party’s disciplinary procedures” and is a model provides the party with rules that are “fit for purpose procedures”.
If party rules are broken or republican values are undermined by our members then we can employ a standardised disciplinary framework which guarantees fairness.
“Sinn Fein’s greatest asset is its membership… our internal party culture should radiate and reaffirm the values,” said Carney.
First published at 7am.
Follow @christinafinn8 and @TJ_Politics for updates from the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis at Dublin’s Convention Centre this weekend.
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Punishment beatings only from now on.
They expelled Kieran McCarthy last year for robbing money out of a fund, the fund was call Katie will walk again, he lost this year as an independent, it was also know that Kieran McCarthy was a drug user, while telling the people of east cork he would stop drug dealing in the area… He’s day did come
Big accusations there Eddie. Never heard anything about the drugs. Silly man if that’s what he was up to.
Is the baseball bat in or out?
Only if it’s wood, aluminium is out. It’s a compassionate party.
Can Gerry touch base with you on that after the Ard Fheis?
Shinnerbots must have been on the pi$$, no red-thumb avalanche for antiSF/IRA comments yet and it is 9.10.
The press office are all at the Ard fheis.
Too early for shinnerbots, not used to getting up for work.
Kneecapping now with rubber bullets?
Is that Gerry Adams Rottweiler on the left in that picture of does it belong to someone else
Anybody stepping out of line from now on, will be knee-capped :-)
Would this code impact on any member convicted of bombings, murder, importing arms etc or is just reserved for more serious matters?
When was the last time a party member as convicted of any of these? I know of FF members who were convicted of rape and attempted murder on the last couple of years but can’t remember the last time a SF member as in the news for such offences.
You mean you can’t remember Gerry Adams in 2014 in court for helping to protect his brother the child rapist?
Maybe Arthur Morgan frisking a child who was raped bye an IRA. Member before her interrogation via a republican kangaroo court.
Wayne can you tell me when was the last time a SF member was CONVICTED of such an offence? You seem to have omitted that information from your comment!
It’s hard to get a conviction when there’s never a witness. Even when there is a witness, there’s never a witness.
Paul, OJ wasn’t convicted but the world knows he’s as guilty as hell. We all know that Gerry hides behind a barrage of lies and bull. You must be pretty naive to think otherwise
Leo made a pathetic comment and just as I thought he, nor any of the others that replied, could answer a simple question to back up that statement. The childishness and sheer desperation you see on these threads isn’t even something you would see in the Belfast Newsletter comment section. Willie Frazier fanpages would be the closet thing.
Adams was convicted
Paul K breige Meehan, Killian Forde, also spring to mind. Gerry Adams confessed to protecting a child rapist and perverting the course of justice, it’s in his biography written bye him if you want a source .
There seems to never be a witness available , they are usually disappeared themselves . Ask Jerry he will tell u about these things and how it works
Niall Binead the SF member and Aengus O Snodaigh campaign manager was convicted for running a spying ring. He was also convicted along with others of attempted robbery in Bray when their can was stopped by gardai. Liam Adams of SF was convicted of Child Abuse. And then look at all the people linked to or former members of SF like Pearse McCauly (the Garda killer) convicted last year of battering and stabbing his ex wife. Look at priory hall builder Tom McFeely….. The list goes on of shady characters in/or were associated with SF.
Remember 200 of these IRA criminals were sent letters saying they were now immune from prosecution (whether (murder, robbery. battery, extortion etc) under the good Friday agreement so there would have been many more convictions perhaps.
Aw here. ..you forgot the crucifixion. .
Slab Murphy?
Wayne are you that gullible that you can’t even differentiate between a court of law conviction and the usual mishmash of innuendo slur and lies in trial by media????
Leo/Diarmuid why did you not tip in to city hall to see your Sinn Fein Lord Mayor Miss Carson before she headed down to Dublin for the Ard Fheis if you wanted questions answered.?
City hall is a very welcoming,inclusive place these days so maybe when your Lord Mayor gets back you might head in for some tea,a scone and a chit chat.
You will be pleasantly surprised about the great the changes there since SF took power away from the sectarian unionist regimes.
Btw do you know when Miss Carson is due to get up and represent you at the Ard Fheis?
Padraic Pearse was shot as a traitor. DeValera was convicted of murder. Nelson Mandela was jailed for 25 years as a terrorist. None of the above would surely be fit to serve in an enda Kenny (DoB) led government. And this from the party whose predecessors tied 10 unarmed men, hands behind their backs, in a circle at Ballyseedy in Co KERRY, and blew them to bits by placing Landmines in the middle of the circle. It is recorded that animals and wild birds feasted on the entrails of these men which were left hanging on trees and telephone wires for weeks after. And these are the people who deem themselves fit to lecture us on who is fit to take their place in government. . HYPOCRITES
Juan are you not the most vile sectarian on this forum? Your hatred and bigotry of loyalists and unionists shines through every time. Your contempt for anybody who wants to share this island with us who is not from a nationalist or republican persuasion like us is repulsive. You are no better than the extremes of Loyalist extremists of old !
Greg, I read one of Juan Franc’s posts months ago. It was enough to sicken any normal human being. since then I never ever read anything that this vile person types. The best policy is to totally ignore the clown.
Pearse Wars convicted by a drum head court martial as was De Valera. Both were engaged in legitimate resistance when politics had failed. Mandela was deprived of all civil rights by a Government which by law regarded him as a second class citizen. Adams and Co had legitimacy until the prorogation of stormont. After that they had a range of political and legal (court remedy) routes open to them none of which they exercised preferring violence and gangsterism to run various money making rackets. Including environmentally friendly diesel laundering.
MBowe, are you saying Gerry Adams lied in his book about his Perjury, and then lied again in court at his brothers appeal?
Must check out the odds on Paddy Power of Gerry being unanimously elected unopposed for the 40th year running.
Such a fine Democratic Party.
Good idea to introduce rules on how to bully properly. It was getting a bit sloppy of late.
It’s amazing how sinn fein are so quiet in the last few weeks.why don’t they do their best to form a government instead of shouting abuse from the sidelines.its staggering how the left side are so quiet
Sinnnnnm feinnnnn are only happy to be in opposition so they can fling mud and shout abuse , God forbid if they did become a government they would have to do things and that’s …… Alien to them as they can’t take critism or condemnation as they can’t disappear people like they did before
And if they did get into government God forbid, we would end up like the paradise of Venezuala, Greece, Cuba or other countries they love to point to as good examples of similar economic policies to their own.
North Korea is their plan, where everyone is equal but some are more equal than others.
They also plan to control their social media abusers. If they can stop it they must have started it!
Did anyone believe the average industrial wage guff from the people in Boss suits and designer dresses?
Exclusive: Sinn Fein to end policy of TDs taking average industrial wage from €87k salary
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/exclusive-sinn-fein-to-end-policy-of-tds-taking-average-industrial-wage-from-87k-salary-34652894.html
Jesus man did you even bother reading the article, if so your first sentence doesn’t make any sense. You still drunk or just not the brightest spark???
The Indo.. lol!
Looks like the Northern bank money is running out.
I agree that the Indo article is nonsense and bad basic journalism.
He states that they pay €47k to the party…
Think about that.
Somehow, SF want is to believe that the TD’s don’t pay income tax, PRSI or USC, not to mention PS pension contributions like the rest of TD’s.
At most, they could give about €10k, which is above the €6k threshold on the SIPO legislation.
SIPO have stated previously that they have no evidence that SF TD’s break this €6k rule, so the AIW claim is bull.
@Liam,
“The term “shinnerbot” is often used to describe anonymous online users who constantly hurl abuse at others who criticise Sinn Féin.”
I wonder what site(s) they’re referring to? I do find it refreshing that any party would acknowledge that their supporters do indeed hurl abuse at anyone who dares to criticise SF and that they plan to tackle the problem.
They know that their own supporters do more damage to them then any opponent.
“The funds are in addition to Oireachtas expenses that public representatives can claim against their constituency offices and other spending.
Sinn Fein TDs claimed €7m over the four-year life of this government – an average of €500,000 per TD.
The party has made a point of publishing its financial statements.
The party makes a virtue out of drawing the minimum wage, however the benefit is not to the taxpayer but the party’s well-oiled constituency machine.
The “average industrial wage” rule means that salaried public representatives north and south have to relinquish up to a third of their salaries to their constituencies.
An estimated €200,000- a-year is ploughed back into Sinn Fein’s local constituency machine by the party’s 14 TDs alone, which equates to €800,000 over the life of this government.”
“The figures can be calculated from Padraig McLochlainn’s disclosure that after tax, he had €44,241 left out of his then €92,672 TD’s salary, (since cut to €87,258). He took home €29,000, leaving around €15,000 to spend on extra staff in his consituency. Multiplied by 14, that’s around €210,000 to spend on Sinn Fein constituencies across the country. ”
It is what happens when you have been in power a while – your principles become fluid. Gerry having problems paying his pal for a room in the safe house?
It’s amazing how the party leadership manage to send their kids to some of the country’s leading private schools given their salary sacrifice to the cult. Are they availing of scholarship programmes?
Just on a more general issue of the SF conference I think SF missed a trick here and it’s not like them. While they’ll never admit it getting 13.8% must have been a humiliation to the party. Like the other parties they should have had this event before the election and not after it. I know they are holding the event on the exact anniversary of the “Easter” Rising. But the clue is in the name. A lot of people are 1916-out after celebrating it when it should have been celebrated and that’s at Easter.
It’s also bad timing because they have to comment on the current state of things and can’t stay quiet like they’ve been doing for weeks.
It will be interesting to see what effect this has, if any on the goings on in Leitrim and in particular in the Ballinamore electoral aria following the general election. Waste of time if heads don’t roll.
We all know how SF/PIRA has dealt with internal punishment in the past.
Welcome back Diarmuid. I was starting to worry about you.
Its sad to see the levels of stupidity and ignorance in the comments here.
Is there a rule to identify good and bad republicans? ie….terrorists tax dodgers and civilians
Does that mean no more sending “the boys” round to have a word.
We’re talking about SF….not FG.
Nice one Al
I look forward to meeting many SF delegates at the GPO for the Citizens Parade to Glasnevin on Sunday @ 3. It promises to be great fun. Damo and Panty Bliss are coming along to the GPO gig.
Will history and tone of of 1916 rebellion be the comprehensive inclusive 2016 one or the myopic 1966 version? I prefer the 2016 version.
Myopia is underrated.
Have to admire the military discipline of SF loyalty above all Like FF used to be long time ago
I can’t see anything wrong with myopia.
I see nothing wrong with youropia either
Better late than never, I suppose.
If they had a proper structure of this nature when I was a member here in Longford, things could have and should have been very different.
Instead, a clique was allowed to swing a wrecking ball here and all while leadership at all levels stood by and fell for every nonsensical lie told.
Interestingly, Longford is now the only county on the island of Ireland with no SF elected rep at local or national level. There’s a VERY valid reason for that and I hope they figure it out one day. I gave up trying to get through to them and left. There are more ex-members here than there are members… That tells you all you need to know!
I’m not a member of any party, as you know Dave, but it’s a shame when good folks like you and Barbara get treated so badly the way yis were. Sounds like SF really need to change some of their inner workings. Lets hope they do, for their sakes. When they lost you & herself from the party, they lost two good hard-working genuine believers in Irish Republicanism.
Ms smiths escapades on twitter after a gallon of wine were a disgrace. I was astonished she even got 200 votes.
Kneecapping off the agenda, then?
Well at least they are doing something while they avoid responsibility in forming a government.
Think they should watch dog Enda and form a government besides be good to see Joan and Mary Lou in action together.
SF will now ask (politely) which knee you want shot off
They should put a cage in Dial Eireaan so that the two madam’s can fight it out. They could make a fortune and sell the TV viewing rights to Sky TV.
Hasnt the framework always been to deny everything regardless of how ridiculous the denial is?
In an attempt to reintroduce some old SF/IRA policies the wording of the new document has been changed to simply “rules are broken, knee caps are broken”
Many inside Sinn Fein will talk to you privately ,abound what goes on inside the cumann Its ruled from the top down ,Members are not allowed to criticize councilors T.D.s,must follow party line , To criticize them means you are shunned ,ignored and eventually you will leave as your opinion s and ideas will not matter ,
The end of knee capping then.
have your say