Mary Lou McDonald apologises to teen sent inappropriate text messages by Niall Ó Donnghaile
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Mary Lou McDonald has corrected the record of the Dáil and has apologised to the young person at the centre of a controversy involving former senator Niall Ó Donnghaile.
The Sinn Féin leader corrected a Dáil statement she made last week after the teenager involved revealed that he was 16 at the time he received inappropriate messages from Mr Donnghaile, and not 17 as the party had previously claimed.
Addressing the Dáil, Ms McDonald the young person had provided "wrong" information when he applied to join the party's youth wing.
She said: "It was then my understanding that the young person was 17 years of age because of the information provided on his application form when he applied to join Ógra Shinn Féin. That information was wrong. The young person himself has made clear that he was, in fact, 16 at the time so I want to correct the Dáil record to reflect that he was 16 years of age when these texts were sent."
Ms McDonald confirmed that she has written to the young person and his mother offering a "full, unequivocal and sincere apology".
"What happened to this young person was wrong. Niall Ó Donnghaile's behaviour was unacceptable and utterly inappropriate and no young person should have experienced that, and I am also very sorry for the hurt that my words caused in the statement that I issued following his resignation. That was never, ever my intention and I apologise to that young person for issuing that statement," she told the Dáil.
Mary Lou McDonald TD precedes her own contribution at Leaders' Questions by correcting the Dáil record to reflect that the recipient of Niall Ó Donnghaile's unwanted messages was 16 at the time, not 17. #MaryLouMcDonald #Dáil #NiallÓDonnghaile | @gavreilly pic.twitter.com/CdGumw3734
— Virgin Media News (@VirginMediaNews) October 22, 2024
In a statement issued to the Sunday Independent, the teenager described Ms McDonald’s tribute to Mr Ó Donnghaile when he resigned as a senator as a “mental stab”.
Sinn Féin has been battling a number of controversies in recent weeks.
Last week Mr Ó Donnghaile acknowledged he quit Sinn Féin last year after the party received complaints that he had sent inappropriate texts to a teenage party member.
Sinn Féin has said it referred the matter to the PSNI and social services immediately last September, but no criminal investigation was pursued after police deemed there had been no illegality.
Mr O’Donnghaile stepped down from the Seanad three months after Sinn Féin had referred the issue to the authorities.
Separately, Ms O’Neill also told the Assembly that a Sinn Féin member has resigned from the party after admitting involvement in damaging the portrait of a former DUP lord mayor at Belfast City Hall.
An investigation had been launched after the official portrait of Lord Wallace Browne was damaged at the weekend.
Ms O’Neill told MLAs: “Yesterday a Sinn Féin employee who worked in the Assembly made the party chief whip aware of their involvement in an incident regarding a portrait in Belfast City Hall.
“This took place on Saturday October 19. The employee was immediately suspended and we notified the PSNI.
“The employee has now resigned from their employment and their party membership.” Lord Browne’s portrait was damaged just days after a portrait of Mr Ó Donnghaile, also a former Belfast lord mayor, was removed from the City Hall.