Northern Ireland

Leo Varadkar accuses Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald of justifying 'internal party intimidation'

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald. File picture by Niall Carson, Press Association
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald. File picture by Niall Carson, Press Association Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald. File picture by Niall Carson, Press Association

The tánaiste has accused Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald of justifying "internal party intimidation" after a young party member said she resigned after another called at her door over tweets which criticised TD Brian Stanley.

The Irish Examiner first reported at the weekend that activist Christine O’Mahoney left Sinn Féin after the visit.

Less than 24 hours after apologising for a tweet which praised the IRA's 1920 Kilmichael ambush and the Provisional IRA's 1979 attack on British soldiers at Narrow Water, Co Down, the Laois-Offaly TD was again heavily criticised for a tweet posted on the day Leo Varadkar became the Republic's first gay political leader in 2017.

He tweeted: “Yippee 4 d tory. it’s Leo. U can do what u like in bed but don’t look 4 a pay rise the next morning.”

READ MORE: Eoin Ó Broin says Brian Stanley guilty of 'colossal errors of judgment'Opens in new window ]

Ms O’Mahoney, a member of UCD Ógra Sinn Féin, had criticised Mr Stanley about the tweet referencing Mr Varadkar’s sexuality.

She was allegedly told to delete her posts and not to publicly comment on Sinn Féin.

Asked about the allegations on Today with Claire Byrne on RTÉ Radio yesterday morning, Ms McDonald said that "nobody [was] trying to censor anybody".

Brian Stanley linked the 1920 Kilmichael ambush with the killing of 18 British soldiers at Narrow Water in 1979
Brian Stanley linked the 1920 Kilmichael ambush with the killing of 18 British soldiers at Narrow Water in 1979 Brian Stanley linked the 1920 Kilmichael ambush with the killing of 18 British soldiers at Narrow Water in 1979

She said a Sinn Féin member called to Ms O’Mahoney's house to let her know that some in the party were unhappy with her posts.

She said the person who called to Ms O’Mahoney’s house was “a local person”.

“I wouldn’t think twice about knocking on a cumann member’s door,” she said.

“Obviously in this case exception was taken to somebody knocking on the door, but I can’t allow you to create an entirely false perception that some anonymous unknown figure landed on anyone’s door.”

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar Tánaiste Leo Varadkar

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar strongly criticised Ms McDonald's response.

"I have made no public comment on the Brian Stanley tweets but listening to Mary Lou McDonald this morning equivocating and justifying glorification of violence, latent homophobia and internal party intimidation is truly nauseating," he tweeted.

"This is not the kind of change Ireland needs, ever."

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the allegation that an activist had called to another's house "represents the cult of control within Sinn Féin… pressure is put on individuals in the party to conform at all costs".