Stanley Says McDonald Dáil Speech A ‘Desperate Attempt to Divert Attention’
Former Sinn Féin TD, Brian Stanley accused current party member, Mary Lou McDonald Dáil Speech as a desperate attempt to divert attention from the remarks she made about him and abusing Dáil privilege.
Yesterday evening, the current Sinn Féin member, Mary Lou McDonald said that a complaint against Mr Stanley was “very serious” and left the woman who complained against Mr Stanley “traumatised and distressed”.
Mr Stanley completely rejected the complaint and said that these remarks from McDonald were a desperate attempt to shift everyone’s focus from her own Sinn Féin failed procedures. He said that the contents of the complaint were irrelevant to him.
The government sources stated that there is a chance that Mr Stanley might be asked to make a Dáil statement about the complaint against him that led to his resignation.
Mr Stanley is the second-party TD who has left Sinn Féin within a week. It was soon after the resignation of Kildare South TD Patricia Ryan.
The sources said that there still exists an opportunity for Mr Stanley to remain a member of Dáil and any similar statement, under the House privilege, would let him put the facts right on the record.
Despite several days of ongoing statements, the Coalition believes that there is still a crucial piece of information which is missing and outstanding.
Mr Stanley resigned from the party last Saturday based on the “kangaroo court” that conducted Sinn Féin’s internal disciplinary process unofficially.
Mr Stanley declared that it was “a desperate attempt to shift the focus from her own party’s practices regarding a complaint against me, the contents of which I refute”.
View this post on Instagram
Mr Stanley is of the view that McDonald Dáil speech and the remarks came within days after the inaccurate statements that had been running related to his issue. The insinuations of Sinn Féin and the selected briefings had a clear intention of damaging his reputation which he categorised as “character assassination”. In his view, it merely shifts attention from her own party’s issues.
Brian Stanley further added that in McDonald Dáil speech, the “level of double standards” is now at its peak and can be seen in Sinn Féin. According to him, the complaint against him was filed on 26 July and not seven days later as mentioned by Sinn Féin.
He revealed that he was not informed about the complaint deliberately and no official revelations were made to him till 31 July. He had to send a letter via his own solicitor to Sinn Féin for a demand of an official confirmation of the existence of any such complaint.
Brian Stanley was open towards bringing this matter as An Garda Siochana matter.
How Pearse Doherty is handling the matter related to McDonald Dail speech
Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty accepts that full information about Niall Ó Donnghaile, a former member of the Seanad Éireann, was not disclosed to the public and the Oireachtas.
However, such a step was taken to take care of someone who was going through a tough phase of mental health crisis and now the people know why the decision was to be made. There was a legitimate reason behind not being able to provide full details.
Pearse Doherty admitted that Niall O’Donnghaile faced all the condemnation from the party and lost his job due to this. He compromised his position at the hands of his own actions. A criminal investigation by the PSNI and social services was initiated against O’Donnghaile.
Mr Doherty revealed that the victim was content with the outcome of the investigation. Sinn Féin should be more considerate in handling the situation.
Mr Doherty added that there is “absolutely no similarity whatsoever” between the case of Niall O’ Donnghaile and Michael McMonagle, the former Sinn Féin member. He had committed several sex offences and the matters of handling child protection issues are raising eyebrows from all corners of Sinn Féin.
He explained that Mr Stanley is currently frustrated since he is facing “lashouts” from all sides and is now in a difficult spot.
He entirely entitled Brian Stanley for coming out in public and being transparent about the complaint that was filed against him. He is going through a difficult time and it would not be appropriate to expose him in any way, whether the real matter exists or not, Doherty rationalised.
Mr Doherty completely agreed with the fact that it would be Brian Stanley’s own choice to question what happened to him and why he was not officially told about the complaint. He has all the right to respond to how is doing now at the preliminary report from the party, Doherty took his side.
Doherty further clarified that Miss McDonald herself was not aware of Stanley’s complaint and ignored if any child protection issues were present.
Mr Doherty also told that her party was aware of Mr O’Donnghaile’s mental health issues. It is now later revealed that he had his monthly payments till January 22 this year and also received a termination lump sum, accounting for up to six monthly termination payments, despite doing ethically wrong with the kid.
Miss McDonald admits that she was unaware of Stanley’s complaint
Miss McDonald told the Dáil yesterday that was unaware of the complaint against Mr Stanley, in reality. It was only on Saturday that Stanley made an announcement after issuing his statement.
She described that the complaint was made against his improper “personal behaviour” and the female victim herself was “traumatised and distressed”, in her own words.
Brian Stanley openly refused any such misbehaviour.
According to Miss McDonald, Brian Stanley made a “very serious” counter allegation when the issue of October 2023 was raised.
A corroboration was made by the Dublin Central TD that Mr Stanley was asked to go to gardai but did not do so.
What is Miss McDonald hiding?
On the other hand, Miss McDonald was accused of maintaining secrecy and not unveiling the reason for the quick resignation of O’Donnghaile.
Sinn Féin is under constant scrutiny for handling a series of child protection issues and various scandals revolving around it. The resignation of Niall O’Donnghaile and the fallout of former party press officer Michael McMonagle are the two highlighted issues in this regard.
Miss McDonald accepted that it was not fair from Sinn Fein’s side that it kept from informing Oireachtas about the persisting issues. However, she professed that she was worried about mentioning the name of the offender which would be “dangerous to his health”.
She opened up about the issues of the teenager to whom Mr O’Donnghaile was sending inappropriate messages that he needed the texts to be stopped and requested that the matter should be handled by proper authorities.
Rather than explaining the matter on her side, she kept stressing that the complaint against Brain Stanley was much more serious, which Stanley pronounced was a desperate attempt to divert attention.
Although it was confirmed that O’ Donnghaile sent an inappropriate message to a young child, several questions over Sinn Féin’s governance are now raised, Tánaiste Micheál Martin said.
Miss McDonald has been claiming to look after all the matters of child protection in Tánaiste Micheál Martin despite various criticisms previously.
She has been attempting to clarify her party’s position to the Dail.
Miss McDonald has always supported her party’s processes of handling such issues and stating their internal disciplinary process is strong. She puts forward that her party’s actions were always carried out correctly and fairly.
Sinn Féin’s child protection drama and secrecy
Michael McMonagle, a former senior press officer, was accused of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity with him. He will be sentenced in November. A work reference came to the surface from two of his colleagues but kept quiet about him.
Patricia Ryan was left with no option but to quit the party after she was being pushed out and her social media posts were constantly getting censored. She was the one raising questions about the party leaders but was never given proper answers.
Niall O’Donnghaile is the one who is accused of sending inappropriate messages to a teenager.
The current issue of Brian Stanley is now under the spotlight whose investigation gave rise to a claim in a “kangaroo court”.
Did Sinn Féin fail?
Assumingly, yes since the scandals did not fade away. In fact, one after the other kept arising despite several efforts from Miss McDonald and other members who were trying to snub the members who raised their voices.
The matters were referred forward for PSNI and Garda to have a look upon but no further progress was seen.
Miss McDonald has been severely accused of misleading Oireachtas, even if she knew about the mental health condition of O’Donnghaile, the issues could have been handled more carefully then.
She gained heavy criticism for “glowing” references.
Moreover, the full story from Brain Stanley is pending. It is his discretion whether he wants to open up about the matter of the complaint filed against him this July. However, at present, he is not comfortable doing it as the matter has already damaged his reputation.
Brian Stanley openly blamed Miss McDonald and Sinn Féin for shifting “the spotlight off” and only mentioning Brian Stanley as a desperate attempt to divert attention from the remaining issues.
The opposition is constantly debating the deliberate hush-hush of the child protection scandals and pushing them under the carpet while the concerns related to child protection statistics are quite alarming.
Peadar Tóibín, a member of the opposition party revealed the stats as follows:
- More than 200 children, who are either in state care or are generally known to the state have died in the past ten years. 38 of them are known to have taken their own lives. In addition to this, 11 out of these 200 cases were murders.
- Increasing concerns about the sexual exploitation of children in the state
- The number of children now being referred to Tusla, a child and family protection agency in Ireland, has doubled compared to 2018.
- Tusla has to make unregulated accommodation arrangements to accommodate children who are in need of desperate help. The emergency accommodations might not have appropriate vetting in place but quick setups are in dire need.
Future implications for Sinn Féin, whether Brian Stanley’s case is another cover-up used by Miss McDonald?
Timing for Miss McDonald’s cover-up just for the sake of saving her party could be odd. General elections are just around the corner and Sinn Féin is barely in the polls. The party urgently needs a new vision to not only reposition itself but wash away the scandals that are prominently in the public gaze these days.
Not only Miss McDonald’s inability to handle the child protection issues but her leadership is now being questioned. The internal structures of the Sinn Féin party need to be sought out since raising fingers at Brian Stanley would not cool matters down.
The media’s blazing frenzy and intense concerns about Sinn Féin’s ability to handle wider child protection issues might stumble the party’s position. The results could change the game. A wait for the final counting of the votes would say it all about the damage done in reality.
FAQs
1. What sparked the controversy involving Brian Stanley and Mary Lou McDonald?
- The controversy began when Mary Lou McDonald, current Sinn Féin leader, made remarks in the Dáil regarding a complaint against former TD Brian Stanley, describing it as “very serious” and alleging that it left the complainant “traumatised and distressed.”
2. How did Brian Stanley respond to McDonald’s remarks?
- Brian Stanley rejected the complaint and accused McDonald of trying to divert attention from her party’s handling of internal procedures. He characterized her comments as an attempt at “character assassination” and stated the contents of the complaint were irrelevant to him.
3. What led to Brian Stanley’s resignation from Sinn Féin?
- Stanley resigned following what he described as a “kangaroo court” process within Sinn Féin’s internal disciplinary procedure. He expressed frustration over not being informed about the complaint until days after it was made.
4. Who is Niall Ó Donnghaile, and how is he related to this situation?
- Niall Ó Donnghaile is a former Sinn Féin member whose actions led to a criminal investigation by the PSNI and social services. Pearse Doherty admitted that the party did not disclose full information regarding Ó Donnghaile to the public, leading to criticisms of Sinn Féin’s handling of child protection issues.
5. What criticisms has Sinn Féin faced regarding its internal processes?
- Sinn Féin has faced scrutiny over its handling of complaints and disciplinary actions, particularly regarding child protection issues. Critics argue that the party has not been transparent and has mishandled sensitive situations, which has led to further controversies.
