Former Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley has claimed he is the victim of a “character assassination” by a “clique” in his former party.

Mr Stanley made the shock decision to quit the party late on Saturday night claiming he had been subjected to a “kangaroo court” over allegations made about him from within the party.

After he resigned, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald referred the claims made against Mr Stanley and his counter allegations to gardaí.

Ms McDonald has insisted she is not in a position to comment on any of the allegations but says she acted transparently at all times.

In a new statement, Mr Stanley welcomed the fact the allegations have been referred to gardaí and said he already suggested this should have happened before now.

“This has been advocated by me for some time, including to a senior Sinn Féin official,” Mr Stanley said in a statement sent by his solicitors to RTÉ.

“The party should have referred it to gardaí once both myself and legal representatives brought certain serious matters to the attention of the ‘panel’ on September 11th,” he added.

Mr Stanley said Ms McDonald correctly said the complaint made against him is “not of a criminal nature” but said it is “totally incorrect” for her to suggest his personal rights were protected throughout the internal investigation.

“The complaint, which I refute, was lodged with the party on the very first day (26 July) that a 10-day nomination process opened for members such as myself to be put forward to contest the general election,” he said.

“In my case this had the effect of preventing me of having any hope of contesting it as a Sinn Féin candidate for Laois. It was received by Sinn Féin on the 26 July and I obtained written proof of this from them, he added.

Mr Stanley said Ms McDonald was wrong to suggest she found out on August 2 about the complaint.

“As a matter of fact, I made her aware in person on July 29 of it and that certain information regarding it had been circulated by party members,” he said.

“The information had been deliberately kept from me that there was a complaint or the nature of it. An ‘omerto’ (sic) was in place. One middle ranking party member instructed other members that I was not to be informed of its existence.

“In actual fact I had to get my solicitor, 6 days later, to write to the party (31 July) to ascertain what was the nature of the complaint!

“In the intervening period ie from July 26, the process of character assassination was well underway by a certain party clique and has continued unabated since then.

“These facts and others mean that there has been a significant abuse of process when it was brought to the attention of the Sinn Féin ‘panel’ as it was simply brushed aside.

“I stand over what I stated 2 days ago regarding what the party refer to as an ‘inquiry’,” he added.