Former Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley accuses Mary Lou McDonald of ...

Addressing the Dáil, Ms McDonald said a complainant against Mr Stanley was left "traumatised and distressed" by his actions.

Ms McDonald's comments came as she sought to defend the party's record on a series of scandals.

At the weekend, it emerged that Laois-Offaly TD Mr Stanley had resigned from the party and would run as an independent in the next general election.

He had resigned after the party contacted him about the preliminary findings of an internal probe into a complaint made against him and a "serious" counter-allegation he raised during the process.

However, in a statement issued today to Laois Today, Mr Stanley said Ms McDonald had abused Dáil privilege in a “desperate attempt” to shift focus away from the party.

Who is Brian Stanley, the Sinn Féin TD who has resigned from the party over ‘kangaroo court’

“Mary Lou Mc Donald abused Dáil privilege in a desperate attempt to shift the focus from her own party’s practices regarding a ‘complaint’ against me, the contents of which I refute,” said Mr Stanley.

“This comes after days of inaccurate statements and insinuations from Sinn Féin, along with selective briefings delivered with the clear intention of damaging my reputation and to shift the spotlight off the party.

“And all this, while a Garda investigation is ongoing on foot of serious matters I brought forward.

“What was also revealing from her statement in the Dáil, is the level of double standards that now operate and pertain in Sinn Féin.

“In the interest of clarity, I again state the following:

“That the complaint against me, and which was not deemed to be of a criminal nature, was lodged on the 26 July and not 7 days later as Sinn Féin claim.

“I also state that it was deliberately kept from me that there was even a complaint.

“That I wasn’t informed officially that there was a complaint until the 31 July and this followed a letter from my solicitor to Sinn Féin to demand official confirmation as to the existence of one.

“I again welcome the fact that this matter is now with An Garda Síochána.”

While Ms McDonald and Mr Stanley both said the original complaint was not of a criminal nature, Sinn Féin has since referred both matters to An Garda Siochana.

Mr Stanley has claimed he was subjected to a "character assassination" by a clique within the party and likened its processes to a kangaroo court.

In the Dáil on Tuesday, Ms McDonald said the circumstances around Mr Stanley's resignation from Sinn Féin are "very, very serious".

She said: "The complaint relates to an incident that took place in October 2023 and relates to Deputy Stanley's personal behaviour - leaving the complainant, in her words, traumatised and distressed.

"In the course of the inquiry into the complaint against Deputy Stanley, he raised a counter allegation against the complainant and a very serious one. The allegation caused deep concern, and Deputy Stanley was advised that he should go to the gardaí. He chose not to.

"Deputy Stanley's allegation also dates back to the incident of October 2023."

Sinn Féin referred both matters to gardaí on Sunday after the completion of a preliminary report from its internal inquiry.

She added: "Deputy Stanley is responsible for his behaviour and he must account for it. For our part, Sinn Féin responded to a serious complaint and counter allegation in a correct and fair manner."

Separately, Ms McDonald said the recent resignation of Patricia Ryan was related to a contested selection convention in Kildare South before the general election.