Sinn Féin has moved to overhaul its governance structures after the party was rocked by a series of scandals last year.
In a message to the ard comhairle, Sinn Féin’s governing body, party general secretary Sam Baker said the moves were initiated by party leader Mary Lou McDonald following separate incidents of “inappropriate behaviour” by several now former elected representatives and staff.
A former party press officer, Michael McMonagle, was last year jailed for child sexual offences.
It also emerged that the former Sinn Féin leader in the Seanad, Niall Ó Donnghaile, resigned after sending inappropriate texts to a 16-year-old. The party did not disclose the reason for his resignation at the time.
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Separately, Brian Stanley, the party’s former Laois-Offaly TD, now an Independent deputy, resigned after a draft report by the party reached a provisional conclusion of gross misconduct against him, following a complaint by a woman of sexual harassment.
Mr Stanley denied any wrongdoing and disputed the events in question, insisting the complaint was politically motivated. He contested how the inquiry was conducted.
In his message, Mr Baker said a King’s Counsel has been commissioned to undertake a comprehensive review of Sinn Féin’s disciplinary procedures.
He said a full-time external human resource manager has been commissioned. An independent expert has also be appointed to undertake an audit and offer recommendations on how to improve the party’s human resources handbook for employees.
A social work and safeguarding consultant has completed a draft of a Sinn Féin child protection policy and the party has appointed a national corporate governance director, he added.
“Now that we can report significant progress, it is now essential that the party nationally urgently adopts the new policies and processes which have been developed with the assistance of independent expert advice,” Mr Baker wrote.
Ms McDonald said: “We are committed to ensuring the highest level of governance across Sinn Féin and that party management, staff and members are all aware of their responsibilities. Governance will be an ongoing part of our work and we will be reviewing all aspects of this annually.”
A spokesman for the party said a report earlier on Wednesday, which suggested the review had resulted in its former MP and European Parliament candidate Michelle Gildernew losing her position with the party, was incorrect.
The party said a “number of totally unconnected processes within the party” had been “mistakenly conflated”.
“A small number of staff who were on short-term temporary contracts finished their posts at different times over the last three months,” the spokesman said. “One of them was Michelle Gildernew. I have no doubt that Michelle will continue to be at the heart of what we do, and I hope will be available for other posts.”
