Mary Lou McDonald treated me ‘appallingly’ says former Sinn Fein TD Brian Stanley

Former Sinn Fein TD Brian Stanley has accused the party president Mary Lou McDonald of treating him “appallingly”.

The now independent TD for Laois-Offaly quit the party last month amid a controversy relating to a complaint made against him.

He had made a counter allegation and Sinn Fein later referred the matter to the Garda.

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Mr Stanley, who is contesting the general election as an independent, told reporters in Co Laois on Friday that he was “delighted” the case had been referred to gardai and insisted there was no Garda investigation into him personally.

He also accused Sinn Fein of breaching the confidentiality of the party’s internal complaints process.

When it was put to him that Sinn Fein had reportedly provisionally found a claim of sexual harassment against him to be true, and that his alleged behaviour amount to gross misconduct, he replied: “I’m not going to get into it in detail but that’s for Sinn Fein, Sinn Fein are not judge, jury and they are certainly not executioner.”

He said Ms McDonald had not been in contact with him since he quit the party.

Questioned on how he thought the party president had handled the matter, he said: “Appallingly, appallingly”.

Asked had he been hurt by the episode, he added: “I am resilient, other people can speak for themselves, I’ve stuck to the truth.”

Mr Stanley said he had been in “two minds” whether to run in the general election but had been convinced to stand by local constituents and by his family.

“So, for better or for worse, I’ve thrown my hat into the ring,” he said.

“It’ll be an uphill battle, I understand that. But I’ll give it my best shot, and we’ll see how it works out.”

Asked if it was a difficult decision to leave Sinn Fein, he said: “I’m not one to look in the rear view mirror. I think you should always look forward. I’m a republican. I’m centre-left in my beliefs.”

Mr Stanley said he would try to work with “progressive independents” if he was successful in being re-elected.

Asked how difficult the last few weeks had been, he said: “I’m around a while, and I’ve had to go through many a battle, and it wouldn’t have been the first time that I’ve had to deal with difficult situations.

“And, you know, when you’re in public life, particularly when you’re elected to the Dail, you are going to come across situations where you have to face and work your way through it.

“And I’d be fairly resilient and I’ve a good family around me, I’ve good supporters around me, and that helps as well.”

Mr Stanley has been a TD for Laois-Offaly since 2011, and was first elected to Laois County Council in 1999.

He spoke to reporters on Friday as he attended a sod-turning event for a new Garda Divisional Headquarters in Portlaoise.

Earlier this week, Ms McDonald backed the party’s handling of the complaint.

“The initial complaint, and then the secondary allegation, as I set out in detail, were dealt with by the book, utterly, appropriately and respecting everybody’s rights to process, to fair play. It was, of course, a confidential process,” she said.

“We have dealt with it appropriately. We have dealt with it fully and we took the decision, which I presume you now understand, to refer matters to An Garda Siochana.

“We have now discharged all of our responsibilities fully.”

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