Sinn Féin is facing criticism over deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald's demand for the abolition of the Republic's Special Criminal Court while publicly welcoming its conviction of a former party councillor.
Ms McDonald has been accused of hypocrisy after issuing a statement last week welcoming the conviction of former Sinn Féin Dublin councillor Jonathan Dowdall for the torture of another man.
The non-jury court heard how Dowdall 'waterboarded' his victim and threatened to feed him to dogs.
Alexander Hurley, who has prior fraud convictions, pleaded for his life as Dowdall covered his face with a cloth and doused his head with water, while his father Patrick Dowdall threatened to cut the victim's fingers off with pliers "knuckle by knuckle".
Jonathan Dowdall told his victim he was a "stupid dumb f*** to mess with the head of the IRA".
The victim claimed Mr Dowdall told him he was a friend of Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams and Ms McDonald.
The father and son, who pleaded guilty to threatening to kill their victim, are due to be sentenced later this month.
In the aftermath of court's verdict, the Sinn Féin deputy leader issued a statement welcoming her former party colleague's conviction.
"The details of the attack perpetrated by him are deeply shocking," Ms McDonalds said. "I hope the sentence reflects the seriousness of the offence and the trauma endured by his victim."
However, Sinn Féin's political opponents have highlighted how the Dublin Central TD is among of a number of her party's representatives who have previously called for the abolition of the juryless Special Criminal Court.
The all-judge court was originally set up during the Troubles to hear cases involving suspected IRA members but more recently has been used in a broader range of cases.
Fine Gael TD Noel Rock accused Ms McDonald of hypocrisy because Dowdall had been tried and convicted in the very court Sinn Féin was seeking to abolish.
"It's simply unbelievable that it wanted, and still wants, to abolish the Special Criminal Court," he said.
Sinn Féin said a number of organisations, including Amnesty International shared the party's concerns about the Special Criminal Court.
The Sinn Féin deputy leader followed up her statement with a tweet which showed Dowdall in the company of her constituency rival and former lord mayor Christy Burke.
"It is a matter of public record that Mr Dowdall left Sinn Féin, went on to support and work for Cllr Burke and campaigned against Sinn Féin," she said.
"The photographs I posted reflect those facts. Cllr Burke needs to make clear his position on the actions of Jonathan Dowdall."
Fianna Fáil TD Niall Collins said he was not surprised by the conflicting signals being sent out by the Sinn Féin deputy leader.
"Mary Lou McDonald and her party have always been opposed to allowing the Special Criminal Court do what they need to do to go after the most dangerous elements in society," he said.
"The Special Criminal Courts are an unpalatable but necessary tool to convict the most dangerous gangs in the country. It seems that for their own internal reasons Sinn Féin just can't accept that. "
