Presidential candidate Catherine Connolly broke Oireachtas rules to grant Leinster House access to a woman unvetted by gardaí who had been jailed for firearms offences by the Special Criminal Court, Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan has said.
He accused Ms Connolly of making claims about how she employed Ursula Ní Shionnain that have been clearly contradicted by Seán Ó Fearghaíl, who was Ceann Comhairle at the time.
Mr O’Callaghan said the controversy around Ms Ní Shionnain did not relate to someone with previous convictions undertaking that work but rather it was about Ms Connolly breaking the rules and not submitting Ms Ní Shionnain to Garda vetting immediately.
“We all believe in rehabilitation,” Mr O’Callaghan said on Wednesday.
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“The issue here was providing access to Leinster House to an individual who hadn’t been vetted. And, in those circumstances, I think Catherine should have ensured that there was proper vetting done, as opposed to using a daily pass for the individual coming in.”
He added that Mr Ó Fearghaíl’s account of what happened had clearly set out “what the breach of those rules was”.
“We can put in place a whole series of rules, but you’re dependent upon members agreeing to the rules ... if they’re not followed there can be very negative consequences from that. There were rules in place and they weren’t followed and I don’t think that’s acceptable.”
Ms Connolly has previously said Ms Ní Shionnain had “filled out her application form from day one” in 2018 to work for her in Leinster House but left after about six months because the vetting process took so long.
However, Mr Ó Fearghaíl, now a Fianna Fáil TD, told The Irish Times Ms Ní Shionnain had to be asked to undergo the official process for new personnel and, after being asked to do so, soon left.
“She presented herself more or less on a day-by-day visitor basis,” he said. “When it became obvious that she was there on an ongoing basis, she was asked would she submit to the normal kind of certification process for employees. Before that happened, she left of her own volition.”
Ms Ní Shionnain went to work for Ms Connolly very soon after being released from prison. She was sentenced to six years in jail in 2014 by the Special Criminal Court, which hears the trials of subversives and the most serious gangland criminals.
A prominent member of the socialist republican party Éirigí, Ms Ní Shionnain and three men had been arrested in 2012 by gardaí outside a firearms dealer’s premises in Tullamore, Co Offaly. She served a total of 4½ years.
