Mary Lou McDonald has said she will correct the record of the Dail over a statement she made last week around former Sinn Fein senator Niall O Donnghaile.
It comes as the Sinn Fein president is facing further pressure to issue an apology to a teenager who was sent “inappropriate” texts by Mr O Donnghaile.
Ms McDonald said: “It is very important that the record of the Dail is accurate, so of course it will be corrected.”
Stormont First Minister and Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O’Neill (Liam McBurney/PA)
Ms McDonald added: “I read the the young person’s statement. So of course I’m going respond to that fulsomely and of course, we will ensure that the record of the Dail is absolutely accurate.
“The person knows their age obviously. Michelle (O’Neill) is right. The party records did indicate that he was 17. It was his application form for membership. But that doesn’t matter now.
“What matters is that we respond fully to the young person in question and what matters is that the Dail record is accurate, and I will attend to both of those as matters tomorrow.
“As for an apology for the young person, he will be given a full, unequivocal apology from me.
“He’s a young person who ought to have been, who deserved to be fully comfortable within Sinn Fein.
“What happened to him was wrong. Niall O Donnghaile’s behaviour was unacceptable and utterly inappropriate and no young person should have been, should have experienced that.
“I’ve reflected on all of this. My priority has been and remains the young person involved in all of this.
“I’ve heard very carefully what they have had to say. I’ll respond to it fully. I was concerned not simply about Niall O Donnghaile’s mental health, but about his safety.
Sinn Fein’s President Mary Lou McDonald is facing calls to apologise to the teenager who was sent ‘inappropriate’ texts by a former Sinn Fein senator (Niall Carson/PA)
“Mental health matters to me. A person in mental health crisis, that would always be a factor for me, but the driving concern was, and is the young person.
“I followed very carefully what he had to say yesterday, and I’ll respond to it in full.”
Taoiseach Simon Harris has accused Ms McDonald of being “silent” on the calls from the young person at the centre of the matter to apologise to him for the handling of the incident.
The teenager told the Sunday Independent that he was 16 when he received what he described as “inappropriate messages” from Mr O Donnghaile last year.
Speaking in the Stormont Assembly on Monday, Sinn Fein vice president and First Minister Michelle O’Neill insisted party records said the teenager was 17.
She told MLAs: “All child protection protocols were followed with an immediate referral to the PSNI and also to social services. The protection of the young person was absolutely our primary concern.
“Niall O Donnghaile was held accountable and faced serious consequences for his totally unacceptable and totally inappropriate behaviour, and I’m deeply sorry and angry that this young person has had to endure any of this inappropriateness or this unacceptable behaviour.
“Also, I can confirm that according to our records the young person was, in fact, 17. That’s the records which we have in our files in terms of membership.”
The Dail will this week consider a motion to make Mairead Farrell the chairwoman of the Public Accounts Committee (Niall Carson/PA)
Speaking at the launch of the Dublin City Taskforce report, Mr Harris said he wants to know what the Sinn Fein leader will do following the teenager’s statement to the newspaper.
“We have a situation where, in the last 24 hours, not Fine Gael, not Fianna Fail, not the Green Party, not any politician in Dail Eireann, a victim, a teenage boy, has described in a national newspaper how he was mentally stabbed, not by anybody other than the leader of Sinn Fein, by her actions,” Mr Harris said.
“He has called, not by only political opponent, he, the victim, a teenage boy, has called for the leader of the Opposition to directly and sincerely – his words – apologise to him.”
The Fine Gael leader also accused Ms McDonald of spending the last few days demanding an apology for the opening monologue on Friday’s Late Late Show.
Comedian and TV host Patrick Kielty linked the republican party to the hit show The Traitors in the opening minutes of the show last Friday.
Party TDs have been calling for an apology from RTE.
“Does the leader of Sinn Fein, who spent the entire weekend engaging in a pile-on (on the) media, in relation to an apology that she wanted for some satire that may or may not have been funny or not – I didn’t see it – in relation to the Late Late Show.
“They were out in force demanding an apology over satire. Silent in relation to an apology that a victim who received inappropriate texts from an adult elected representative of the Oireachtas had sought.
Taoiseach Simon Harris has accused Ms McDonald of being ‘silent’ over calls from the young person at the centre of the matter to apologise to him (Niall Carson/PA)
“So that’s for Sinn Fein to reflect on. I’d like to know today, does the leader of Sinn Fein intend to do as that victim asked? Because I thought, from listening to her in the past, from listening to all of us in the past, I thought we now adopt a victim-centred approach to these issues.”
Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman described Ms McDonald’s judgment around the time of Mr O Donnghaile’s resignation as “flawed”.
Last week, Mr O Donnghaile acknowledged he quit Sinn Fein last year after the party received complaints that he had sent inappropriate texts to a teenage party member.
The party leader has been widely criticised for a statement she released following his resignation.
Mr O’Gorman said: “In terms of the focus on the statement that Deputy McDonald put out at the time that senator O Donnghaile resigned, I still feel her judgment was flawed there, in terms of the level of praise she heaped upon him in light of the reason that he was leaving Sinn Fein.
“I think the opportunity to clarify the point, particularly on the age of the victim in this, when these texts were sent, I think there may be an opportunity for Deputy McDonald to clarify the record of the house.”
The Government leaders also appeared to row back from any plans to block the nomination of Mairead Farrell as chairwoman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) following the removal of Brian Stanley from the committee.
The Dail will this week consider a motion to make Ms Farrell the chairwoman of the committee.
Mr Harris said the Government is not “overly concerned” about Oireachtas committee chairs, particularly when the lifetime of the Dail is limited.
“Deputy Farrell is a very competent individual in her own right,” he added.
“There’s a very competent vice chair of that committee in Deputy (Catherine) Murphy, the committee is always chaired by the opposition.
“We may or may not have an opportunity to discuss that tonight. It’s certainly not the most pressing issue on my agenda this evening.
“I’m not sure it’s the most pressing issue on the agenda for others. We have a lot of things we want to talk about.”
Mr O’Gorman agreed with Mr Harris’s comments, saying he will speak to the Green Party whip Marc O Cathasaigh about the issue later on Monday.