Young person texted by Niall Ó Donnghaile says Sinn Féin owe them apology for ‘disastrous’ handling of matter

The young person at the centre of the Niall Ó Donnghaile controversy has said Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald owes an apology for the party’s “disastrous” handling of the matter.
The young person, who was sent inappropriate text messages by Mr Ó Donnghaile, the party’s leader in the Seanad at the time, provided a timeline of events which appears to contradict answers given in the Dáil by Ms McDonald. The party leader is now facing calls to correct the Dáil record.
Speaking publicly for the first time, the young person, who is a party activist based in Northern Ireland, said the senator began interacting with them online in early 2023 and that by spring, they were “was being asked inappropriate requests and questions”.
Crucially, they said they were 16 at the time, making them legally a child in Northern Ireland.
They said they knew Mr Ó Donnghaile’s actions were wrong “but was originally fearful of reporting it to the central party as the safety culture of the party was visibly not present”.
They said they made their concerns known to the party and had to “silently endure watching when Niall stood down for ‘health reasons’ when I knew the truth.
“This was painful and frustrating. It mentally impacted me and at times brought me to dark spaces, at a time when I was supposed to be enjoying starting sixth form and living a normal teenage life.”
[ Who is Niall Ó Donnghaile, the former Sinn Féin senator who resigned over ‘inappropriate’ texts to teenager?Opens in new window ]
Ms McDonald’s “glowing tribute” to the outgoing senator at this time felt like a “mental stab”, they said in the statement which was first published in the Sunday Independent.
“All of this demonstrates the hypocrisy of Sinn Féin and their failure to protect me and others in line with child protection policies.”
He said Mr Ó Donnghaile has admitted his inappropriate exchanges and that Sinn Féin has admitted “to keeping him in his role after the investigation, until December 2023.
“Sinn Féin has also admitted to knowing about my concerns weeks before this investigation, when I reported it to my adult peers in Ógra Sinn Féin.”
They said the situation will not truly come to an end unless an apology is forthcoming.
The controversy is one of several political crises impacting the party as it faces into a general election. A poll published by the Sunday Times shows Sinn Féin’s support has dropped to 16 per cent.
Fine Gael’s Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, who is Minister of State with responsibility for EU Affairs, accused Ms McDonald of providing “completely wrong information” about the teenage victim.
This included saying they were 17 at the time, instead of 16.
“Why did Sinn Féin continue to push this falsehood? Why didn’t they alert An Garda Síochána as to the activities of their senator? They were well able to call the Guards out of an ‘abundance of caution’ in the case of Brian Stanley,” said Ms Carroll Mac Neill.
“Sinn Féin have tried to hide, run and cover up on the shameful Niall Ó Donnghaile episode since details emerged eight days ago. Last Monday night, we had the spectre of a senior front bench Sinn Féin TD saying they did not know who this party colleague was. Pull the other one.”