Sinn Féin internal inquiry made draft finding of sexual harassment ...

An internal Sinn Féin inquiry into a complaint against Laois-Offaly TD Brian Stanley was preparing to make a finding against him of gross misconduct on grounds of sexual harassment when he resigned from the party a fortnight ago, internal party documents show.

Mr Stanley and the young woman who made the complaint were told that after an inquiry, which heard testimony from both sides, the party intended to make a finding that she had been telling the truth and parts of his evidence were “not credible”, according to a draft report of the inquiry seen by The Irish Times.

They were given seven days to respond to the proposed findings. After five days Mr Stanley resigned from the party claiming he had been subjected to a “kangaroo court” and there was a “clique within the party [which] have gone to extreme lengths to damage my reputation and character”.

On Friday, in a statement to The Irish Times in response to detailed queries about the inquiry, Mr Stanley’s solicitor repeated his “strenuous denial of any wrongdoing”. The report “is, in fact, a draft report, not a final report”, and Mr Stanley contests the “provisional findings”, the statement said.

Mr Stanley’s solicitor said the complaint against the TD was “solely and exclusively politically motivated”, and that it was made before the general election and the selection of candidates.

The Sinn Féin disciplinary process was “demonstrably abused throughout”, the statement said.

The inquiry by the party began in August after the woman made a complaint about an incident at a Dublin hotel on Wednesday, October 11th, 2023, after the woman had travelled to meet Mr Stanley. She had previously worked for Sinn Féin several years ago, and was seeking advice on applying for employment in the EU. At Mr Stanley’s invitation they ate together at Leinster House and had drinks at a pub.

The Sinn Féin inquiry repeatedly found aspects of Mr Stanley’s evidence to be not credible and ultimately said that “taking all the available evidence into consideration, that on the balance of probability that narrative as put forward by the complainant is essentially true”, the draft report states.

The woman said she was upset and traumatised in the days following the incident, and communicated with Mr Stanley by text message. The texts were presented as evidence to the inquiry, which it said in the draft report were “not disputed”.

She sent him a request for €60,000 to compensate her for what she claimed happened on the night, text messages show.

The woman now says that her request for money was an “unwise, idiotic, and ill-judged decision while in a state of shock and powerlessness”.

The woman told The Irish Times that she never pursued the request and instead spoke to a helpline and to people close to her to help deal with the emotional toll of the incident.

Mr Stanley, in his evidence to the inquiry, strongly disputed the version of events presented by the woman, and says that she is involved with others in the party in a conspiracy to remove him. He repeated this in his statement via his solicitor to The Irish Times, saying that “the complaint was wilfully withheld for a period of almost 10 months in an effort to spancel our client’s potential political candidacy”.

Mr Stanley told the inquiry he believed there was an organised effort to remove him and that the complaint was part of that.

When he resigned the party rejected Mr Stanley’s claims, and said the internal inquiry was at an end because of his resignation. It also said it had passed on to the Garda the allegations against Mr Stanley as well as a counter-allegation – about the demand for money – he made against the woman.

But after speaking to gardaí this week, the woman – who did not want to be identified – told The Irish Times that the Garda did not have the full party dossier on her case nor the party’s draft inquiry report that found against Mr Stanley.

The woman is now highly critical of the party’s handling of the process, saying it “totally and utterly” betrayed her trust in its handling of the affair.

In a statement to The Irish Times on Friday the woman said: “This is not about politics. This is about justice, safety, and working to ensure that no other woman goes through a similar experience. I am speaking out to protect others, to bring what happened to light, and to seek accountability where it is due.”

In his statement Mr Stanley’s solicitor said: “It has been a source of extreme distress to our client and his family (whose ongoing support is greatly valued by him), that his lifelong service to Sinn Féin and the people of Laois (and Offaly) has been demeaned in this way at this stage of his political career.”