A former Sinn Féin student activist who was subject to pressure after criticising a tweet by Brian Stanley has said party representatives have reached out and apologised for her treatment.
Christine O’Mahony, a member of UCD Ógra Sinn Féin, resigned after a Sinn Féin member called to her house to demand she delete tweets that were critical of the party.
Ms O’Mahony, who was also told not to discuss internal issues in public, told The Irish Times on Sunday that both her local TD in Meath East Darren O’Rourke and the chair of the North Leinster cúige (district council) of the party had since made contact with her to say they were very sorry at what had happened to her, and that she had the right to stand up for her beliefs.
Ms O’Mahony had criticised Mr Stanley for a 2017 tweet about Leo Varadkar which appeared to refer to the Fine Gael leader’s sexuality.
Mr Stanley, who initially defended the comment before deleting his social media accounts late last week, had 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.”
Sinn Féin’s housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin said on Sunday that a social media “pile-on” against anyone who criticises Sinn Féin did not aid or assist the party.
A Sinn Féin spokesman said the people who went to Ms O’Mahony’s home and spoke to her parents were advised it “was not necessary and should not have happened”.
Mr Stanley was asked by party leader Mary Lou McDonald to take a week off and is making a statement to the Dáil on December 15th.
