Complaint made against Brian Stanley handled fairly and transparently, Sinn Féin TD insists
by Cathal Ryan · Irish MirrorA complaint made against Brian Stanley was handled fairly and transparently, a Sinn Féin TD insisted on Saturday.
The party spokeswoman on Public Expenditure Rose Conway-Walsh said Sinn Fein “followed the procedures” and the matter is under garda investigation.
The Sinn Féin draft report into the complaint found his conduct constituted “sexual harassment” amounting to gross misconduct in breach of party ethics.
It was undisputed in the report that Mr Stanley and the woman stayed in a hotel room in Dublin on October 11 2023. Mr Stanley booked the room which had a double bed.
He resigned from Sinn Fein five days after being presented with the findings stating the procedure was flawed and describing it as operating like a kangaroo court.
Mr Stanley, who now describes himself as an Independent republican TD, strenuously denied any wrongdoing insisting the complaint was politically motivated and disputed the version of events which the woman presented to the Sinn Féin inquiry.
Yesterday Ms Conway Walsh told RTE’s Colm O Mongain: “The process was overseen by a barrister, and that is all I can say at this point. But I am satisfied.”
Ms Conway-Walsh said complaints about political parties need to be handled fairly and transparently “and that is what happened in this case”.
She added that the complaint was not referred to the gardaí sooner because “it wasn’t immediately evident that there could be a criminal case involved”.
Taoiseach Simon Harris refused to comment other than to say: “I have every confidence in the garda assessing any complaint with full rigour and in a thorough way.”
Niall Collins, Minister of State at the Department of Further and Higher Education and Fianna Fáil TD said the complaint should have been referred to gardaí sooner.
Mr Collins queried why Sinn Féin had not referred the matter to the gardaí when they first started the complaint process. Earlier this month, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald told the Dáil the woman was left distressed and traumatised afterwards.
The woman who made the complaint later texted Mr Stanley seeking €60,000 in compensation for what she described as “emotional trauma”. She later told the media this was ill-judged and was done because she was in a state of shock at the time.
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