A member of the Public Accounts Committee has called on Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald to clarify the timeline of events that led to the resignation of long-standing Laois TD and committee chair Brian Stanley.
It comes after Sinn Féin said it told Mr Stanley in September to go to the Garda with concerns he raised during a party inquiry into a complaint against him.
On Monday there were various press queries to Sinn Féin over conflicting timelines offered by Mr Stanley and Ms McDonald, which were characterised by Taoiseach Simon Harris as adding “another layer of confusion and lack of clarity” to the matter.
Mr Stanley accused members of Sinn Féin of orchestrating a “character assassination” against him as he said matters relating to the process should have been referred to gardaí “some time” ago.
A long-standing member made an initial contact to the party about Mr Stanley at the end of July. Sinn Féin said she later submitted a full complaint at the start of August.
A panel made up of two other senior party members and a barrister, who is also a Sinn Féin member, was set up under the party’s internal disciplinary processes to investigate the complaint, Ms McDonald said.
It made preliminary filings at the start of this month and invited statements or corrections before the final document was prepared.
Mr Stanley, who has been a TD for Laois-Offaly since 2011 and is chairman of the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC), announced his resignation from Sinn Féin on Saturday, likening the internal disciplinary process to a kangaroo court.
Sinn Féin then referred the initial complaint, and a “serious” counter-allegation by Mr Stanley that arose during the probe, to gardaí on Sunday.
On Monday, Ms McDonald and Mr Stanley both said the original complaint was not of a criminal nature.
Fianna Fáil TD James O’Connor told Newstalk radio on Tuesday that he felt Sinn Féin was not being honest with the public about what was going on in relation to Mr Stanley.
“I want to hear why Sinn Féin felt it necessary to refer the matter to the gardaí and why did they only refer the matter to the gardaí after [Mr Stanley] resigned.”
“What we want to see is clarity and honesty from Mary Lou McDonald as to what is going on within their organisation in regards to this, because I think it is important and bear in mind the role of the PAC and the work that needs to be done within that committee is incredibly important, as is the role of chairperson.”
Mr O’Connor said he had been in contact with members of Sinn Féin and it appeared that “nobody democratically elected to the party seems to be fully briefed as to what the actual internal investigation was about.”
A “second round” of statements from Sinn Féin and Mr Stanley now showed that the original timelines had been “completely inaccurate”, the Cork East TD added.
It now appeared that it was only after Mr Stanley resigned that the decision was made by Sinn Féin to refer the matter to the gardaí, he said.
“Sinn Féin are not being honest with the people as regards what has gone on within their organisation around what has happened to Deputy Stanley. We've seen very clearly from the statements that have come that Deputy Stanley feels that what has been carried out is a kangaroo court. I also want to refer to the fact that this is not the first time this has happened within Sinn Féin.”
Mr O’Connor said it was “extraordinarily concerning” that internal investigations were carried out over a period of six to seven weeks before the issue became public knowledge.
The timing of the decision to refer the matter to the gardaí was very significant, he said, coming as it did after Mr Stanley resigned from the party.
Mr Stanley's resignation from Sinn Féin comes days after Kildare South TD Patricia Ryan announced she had left the party.
Ms Ryan said that her resignation was in response to the party “undermining” her.
