SF draft report on Stanley made sexual harassment finding

A Sinn Féin draft report into a complaint made against former party TD Brian Stanley came to the opinion that his conduct constituted "sexual harassment".

It stated that this amounted to gross misconduct and was a breach of party discipline and Sinn Féin's ethics charter.

Brian Stanley has consistently stated that the party's complaints procedure was seriously flawed and he described it as operating like a kangaroo court.

He resigned from Sinn Féin five days after being presented with these draft findings and he has strenuously denied any wrongdoing insisting that the complaint was politically motivated.

The confidential report concluded that "on the balance of probability" the narrative put forward by the complainant was "essentially true".

The report found certain things are not disputed, such as the fact that both Brian Stanley and the woman who made the complaint stayed in a hotel room in Dublin on 11 October last year.

Mr Stanley had booked the hotel room and this was a room with a double bed.

A statement from Brian Stanley's solicitor said: "When the subject complaint was made, it was asserted to be a confidential process to which all parties were strictly bound by the rules of confidentiality. Our client's word is his bond, whereas others involved in this matter have clearly breached the bond of confidence, which our client will not so do.

"In the first instance, we repeat what has been acknowledged in the public forum to date, namely that our client has not committed, or been accused of, any criminal act. Insofar as there have been references to possible criminal acts in commentary regarding this inquiry, they were never directed at our client.

"With the setting of a General Election date imminent, the campaign against our client has now orchestrated a deliberate leak to the press. Even the most naïve political observer could not conclude that this is a series of isolated coincidental events."

Earlier this month, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald told the Dáil the woman was left distressed and traumatised afterwards.

Mr Stanley has disputed the version of events which the woman presented to the Sinn Féin inquiry.

A statement issued by his solicitor said: "the complaint was wilfully withheld for a period of almost 10 months in a effort to spancel our client's potential candidacy."

The statement went on to say that "it has been a source of extreme distress to our client and his family (whose ongoing support is greatly valued by him), that his lifelong service to Sinn Féin and the people of Laois (and Offaly) has been demeaned in this way at this stage of his political career."

It is not disputed that Brian Stanley and the woman had met in Leinster House earlier on the evening of 11 October, 2023, and Mr Stanley had parked her car in the car park there.

After meeting in the Leinster House canteen they went to a pub and had two more drinks.

Two days later, on 13 October, the woman who made the complaint texted Mr Stanley seeking €60,000 in compensation for what she described as "emotional trauma".

The woman told RTÉ News that this was ill-judged and unwise and it was done because she was in a state of shock and was scared at the time.

She added that she did not pursue this request after talking about what took place with a person she could trust.

The woman is deeply unhappy that Sinn Féin did not hand over its full draft report to gardaí when it referred the complaints to them recently.

Complaint handled fairly and transparently - TD

Rose Conway-Walsh, Sinn Féin TD for Mayo and Spokesperson on Public Expenditure said she was satisfied with her party's handling of the complaint.

Speaking on Saturday with Colm Ó Mongáin, she said the matter is still under garda investigation, but she was satisfied that "the party followed the procedures" once the complaint was received, adding that her party did not have questions to reflect on in.

"The process was overseen by a barrister, and that is all I can say at this point. But I am satisfied," she said.

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 tha the complaint was not referred to the gardaí sooner because "it wasn’t immediately evident that there could be a criminal case involved".

Asked about the report, Taoiseach Simon Harris said he does not want to get "into party politics".

"These issues are serious and I've always been of the view that if there are serious issues to be considered then they should be considered by An Garda Síochána," he said.

"And my understanding is that these matters are now with the gardaí and I have every confidence in the garda assessing any complaint with full rigour and in a thorough way."

Speaking on the same programme, Peadar Tóibín, Aontú leader and TD for Meath West said an independent senior council should have been appointed to examine the case.

"I think that an allegation of this level should have been actually handed over to an independent senior council who hasn’t got membership of the organisation or any organisation," he said.

"It is unusual that both individuals party to this complaint are now extremely unhappy with Sinn Féin in how this was handled."

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 the gardaí sooner.

Mr Collins queried why Sinn Féin had not referred the matter to the gardaí when they first started the complaint process.