Independent presidential candidate Catherine Connolly said she had looked into Éirigí member Ursula Ní Shionnain before employing her in Dáil Éireann by speaking to members of a committee that had visited her in prison.
Ms Connolly said she had carried out her own check on Ms Ní Shionnain’s credentials before she hired her in 2018 as an administrative support. Ms Ní Shionnain had been released from jail having served almost four and a half years of a six-year sentence for possession of arms and ammunition.
Asked what precise checks she carried out on Ms Ní Shionnain’s suitability, Ms Connolly said she had “checked with those who sat on a committee, a very important committee who visit prisons” and she was satisfied that Ms Ní Shionnain had rehabilitated herself.
“Unfortunately, this woman’s name is out, and I really feel bad repeating it but it’s out in the public. The woman came on the highest recommendations – Éamon Ó Cuív has gone public in regard to what he said and the recommendations he made. This is a person who served her prison sentence,” she said at an election event in Blackpool, Cork on Saturday.
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Pressed on what precise checks she carried out, Ms Connolly said the vetting procedure on Ms Ní Shionnain was carried out by An Garda Síochána but that the process took so long Ms Ní Shionnain left the position.
“The checks are carried out by the An Garda Síochána. I carried out checks by finding out what was the woman’s history in terms of the politicians that knew her and her background, the checks are carried out by the An Garda Síochána – that process took its place,” she said.
“And I understand that this process, unfortunately, sometimes can take months, sometimes years, for existing members and former members of Dáil Éireann.
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“And I want to repeat, it’s of extreme concern to me that this information has become public, and I think there’s a duty on all of us to ask, ‘How did this information become public, for what purpose?’ Is anybody going to look at the damage this is doing to the privacy of a person and her family?”
Ms Ní Shionnain, who declined to comment when previously contacted by The Irish Times, was still being claimed by Éirigí as a member when she was hired by Ms Connolly as an administrative support.
