Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----position in relation to Jonathan Dowdall. One man, John, who is an anti-drugs activist, now said he feels personally betrayed when he hears Sinn Féin's public representatives speaking about crime, drugs and how to tackle them. It is a party, as he said himself, that was willing to allow a violent criminal to be a public representative for its party. He went on to ask me, "Do they feel no shame?"

This week, two men were found guilty in the Special Criminal Court for their roles in the 2016 gun attack in the Regency Hotel. Last year, a father and son, including a former Sinn Féin councillor, Jonathan Dowdall, pleaded guilty to facilitating the horrific murder. Four men have been held to justice to date. The criminal, Jonathan Dowdall, is no stranger to the Special Criminal Court; it was his second conviction there. He is also very well known to Sinn Féin and to his former constituency colleague, Deputy Mary Lou McDonald. There are many serious questions unanswered by Deputy McDonald and her political protegé turned gangland torturer.

On 23 September 2014, when Dowdall was resigning from the party, Deputy McDonald paid tribute to him saying, "He will be missed in his elected role by me [and] the local party organisation." This is the same local party organisation in her constituency that discussed a 2011 gun attack with Dowdall on a Dublin home, prior to his election to Dublin City Council.

On 17 October 2014, TheJournal.ie reported that Dowdall was remaining with Sinn Féin. TheJournal.ie reported he was "'delighted' to be remaining with Sinn Féin and said that the decision came after talks with party figures". He said Sinn Féin’s deputy leader of the time, "Mary Lou McDonald had been a 'total support' and is one of the people he most admires in Sinn Féin". These reports, by the way, have never been disputed by Sinn Féin. I ask the Minister of State if he agrees we need to know more about who convinced Jonathan Dowdall to stay within Sinn Féin.

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