Mary Lou McDonald, the leader of Sinn Féin, has stated that she will fully apologise to the youngster who was sent offensive messages by Niall Ó Donnghaile, the party’s former senator, reports RTE.
Additionally, Ms. McDonald affirmed that she will amend the Dáil record pertaining to her remarks made last week about Niall Ó Donnghaile.
Ms McDonald continued: “It is very important that the record of the Dáil is accurate, so of course it will be corrected,” reports RTE.
The three Coalition leaders had reiterated their demand that she provide more context for her remarks to the Dáil last week on Mr. Ó Donnghaile’s departure, reports RTE.
While Tánaiste Micheál Martin stated that Sinn Féin still has important issues to answer, Taoiseach Simon Harris stated that he would want to know what Ms. McDonald plans to accomplish.
Speaking earlier at the Dublin City Taskforce report launch, Mr. Harris had stated that he would like to know if Ms. McDonald plans to apologise as the adolescent who received the messages requested in a newspaper story.
In yesterday’s Sunday Independent, the adolescent claimed that he was 16 at the time, not the 17 as Sinn Féin claimed, and he demanded an apology from Ms. McDonald for her praise of Mr. Ó Donnghaile as he departed the Oireachtas, reports RTE.
Michelle O’Neill, the first minister of Stormont and the deputy head of Sinn Féin, claimed that according to party records, the kid who received offensive messages from the former senator was 17 years old at the time.
Asked during Stormont questions this afternoon to clarify what age the boy was, Michelle O’Neill replied: “I can confirm that according to our records the young person was in in fact 17. That’s the records we have in our files in terms of membership,” reports RTE.
Additionally, the First Minister expressed her “deeply sorry and angry” feelings that Niall Ó Donnghaile had to “endure any inappropriate or unacceptable behaviour” and that he had been held accountable for his acts.
Additionally, Ms. O’Neill reiterated that “the protection of a young person was our primary concern” and that Sinn Fein had adhered Irish child protection procedures.
According to Taoiseach Simon Harris, Ms. McDonald had spent the weekend seeking an apology over a media parody rather than responding to the teenager’s plea.
“Because 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,” he said, reports RTE.
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