Mary Lou McDonald to issue 'unequivocal apology' to teen sent inappropriate texts by Sinn Féin Senator

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has vowed to issue an “unequivocal apology” to a teenager over its handling of the Niall Ó Donnghaile scandal.

McDonald will also correct the record on the young man’s age after it was incorrectly stated he was 17 when he received the texts. He was 16. Mr O Donnghaile resigned from the Seanad in December, two months after he stood down from the party.

The party had initially claimed O Donnghaile had stepped down for mental health reasons but admitted he had sent “inappropriate” texts to a teenager. The party continuously insisted last week that the teenager who had received the text messages was 17.

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However, in a statement issued to the Sunday Independent, the teenager confirmed he was just 16 as he called on Ms McDonald to apologise for her "disastrous handling" of the case. The teenager added that the leader's "glowing" public tribute to outgoing Senator O Donnghaile was like a "mental stab".

Ms McDonald has now confirmed she will make a statement to the Dáil and will apologise. “It is very important the Dáil record is accurate so yes I will be correcting it,” she said. “I read the young person's statement. Of course, I'm going to respond to that fulsomely. Of course, we will ensure that the record of the Dáil is absolutely accurate.”

Ms McDonald stated that the young man’s membership application stated he was 17 rather than 16 but “that doesn't matter now”. “What matters is that we respond fully to the young person in question and what matters is that the Dáil record is accurate,” she continued.

“As for an apology for the young person, he will be given a full, unequivocal apology from me. He's a young person who ought to have been, who deserved to be fully comfortable within Sinn Féin. What happened to him was wrong. Niall Ó Donnghaile’s behaviour was unacceptable and utterly inappropriate. No young person should have experienced that.”

Speaking on Monday, Taoiseach Simon Harris slated the party’s handling of the crisis, arguing it had “spent the weekend engaging in a pile-on on media about an apology that she wanted for some satire that may or may not have been funny”.

Sinn Féin has called for RTÉ to apologise over a segment on the Late Late Show, where host Patrick Kielty referred to “Sinn Féin traitors” during a discussion on the reality show The Traitors.

The Taoiseach said: “They were out in force demanding an apology over satire, silent in relation to an apology that a victim who received inappropriate texts from an adult elected representative of Oirechatas had sought. I thought from listening to her in the past, from listening to all of us in the past, I thought we now adopt a victim-centred approach to these issues.”

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