Two Sinn Féin assembly members in Derry have been asked by the party to consider their positions, it has been reported.
The Irish Examiner reported last night that Martina Anderson and Karen Mullan were informed of the move as part of a long investigation into the Derry Comhairle Ceantair, regarding election performance and governance.
It has been suggested that both women have been given until June to decide if they will resign their positions.
Stormont finance minister Conor Murphy did not deny the report and said Sinn Féin is “attempting to fix” internal party issues in Derry following recent election disappointments.
Mr Murphy referred to a “sensible” response in a “specific geographic area with poor election results” which contrast with better results across Ireland.
Both Martina Anderson and Karen Mullan were co-opted into their seats in the Stormont Assembly.
Ms Anderson replaced Raymond McCartney and became the ninth Sinn Féin co-option in the current mandate, which began in March 2017.
Ms Anderson previously served as an MLA for Foyle from 2007-2012 and was a junior minister in the Executive before becoming an MEP.
Karen Mullan was selected to replace Ms Anderson's niece Elisha McCallion as a Foyle MLA after Mrs McCallion was elected as an MP.
The move comes as part of the new "implementation plan" to rebuild after two disastrous election performances in Derry.
In the last election for Derry City and Strabane District Council, Sinn Féin lost five of its seats.
In the last general election in December 2019, Elisha McCallion lost the Foyle seat to the SDLP's Colum Eastwood by more than 17,000 votes.
The entire leadership of the Derry group have already been asked to stand aside.
It was also reported that Ms Mullan’s partner was also asked to stand aside from his role in the party.
The MLAs could not be reached for comment last night.
Mr Murphy referred to “issues that the party needs to examine internally in terms of the local organisation” to “find solutions to fix those and to get ready for upcoming elections”.
“That’s simply what the party is doing, it’s an internal matter,” he told BBC Radio Ulster.
“Any party that is sensible and that is ambitious about how it grows and wants to bring about political change right across Ireland will try and look where it is not performing well electorally and try and see how it can fix those things.”
