LAST UPDATE | 2 Oct

CATHERINE CONNOLLY HAS defended hiring a convicted criminal after the Taoiseach said her approach to the issue showed a “serious lack of judgement”.

As revealed by The Journal yesterday Catherine Connolly hired Ursula Ní Shionnáin as an administrative support when the TD was on the Oireachtas committee for the Irish language in 2018.

Ní Shionnáin, who also goes by Shannon, was sentenced to six years in jail in 2014 after being found guilty by the Special Criminal Court of unlawful possession of firearms and possession of ammunition.

The trial heard how she and three others had been wearing wigs and disguises when they were arrested by armed gardaí outside the home of a firearms dealer on 27 November 2012.

The garda investigation found that it was a dissident republican plot to seize guns. Ní Shionnáin was prominent member of socialist republican group Eirigí at the time.

Connolly, who did not comment on the story when contacted by The Journal yesterday, took to Today with Claire Byrne on RTÉ Radio 1 this morning to defend her position.

In her radio interview Connolly described how Ní Shionnáin was “absolutely perfect for the job”. The TD confirmed that she took her on, explaining that the role was for three days a week.

Ní Shionnáin, Connolly explained, “filled out an application form, explained everything”. She added that “the clearance process took some time, and in the end, she left of her own volition”.

Ní Shionnáin had worked with her for less than six months, Connolly said.

Ní Shionnáin, who was 34 when she was released in 2018, was an accomplished student prior to her prison sentence.

She has a degree from Trinity College Dublin in early and modern Irish and a Masters in language planning from the University of Galway. When she was arrested, she was doing a PhD in new Irish language communities and now works as an advocate for the Irish language and currently works for the Meath Gaeltacht. 

Connolly said in her interview that Ní Shionnáin was recommended to her by a number of TDs who carry out regular prison visits. It was Clare Daly, the former TD and MEP, who recommended that she contact Ní Shionnáin, she said. 

Connolly said that she “abhors violence” but said that Ní Shionnáin had been a “model prisoner” and was looking to “get back into the workforce”. 

According to multiple sources who spoke to The Journal this week, An Garda Siochána refused to grant the necessary clearance to allow Ní Shionnáin work in the buildings of the national parliament over security concerns. 

Connolly wrote to authorities

In her interview, Connolly denied that she had written to authorities to overturn any decision that had been made. She said the process had “gone on and on” and that in the end Ní Shionnáin had left of her own accord. 

She said that she did have some contact with a Chief Superintendent involved in the security clearance process. 

The process, Connolly said, went on “for quite some time”.

“It’s not unusual. I’ve spoken to other people, and sometimes the process goes on for a year or two years.

“In this case, it went on and I checked I have emails that asked, where’s the process at?” 

Connolly said her only intervention was to ask when would the process be completed.

It is unclear when Ní Shionnáin began the vetting process. Connolly said that Ni Shionnáin had “filled out her application form from day one”.

She was working in Leinster House but had to be signed in individually by Connolly every day, the TD claims. The vetting process, if cleared, would have provided her with a pass to enter the building on her own. Connolly claims this process was never completed. Multiple sources have said that the potential full-time hire was blocked.

However Seán Ó Fearghaíl, who was Ceann Comhairle at the time, gave a different timeline to The Irish Times, and said that she only began the vetting process after beginning work.

“We became aware that somebody was there [Leinster House] who would not have gone through the normal vetting process. We asked them to undertake that vetting process. They left before that process began,” he said.

Connolly said she was opposed and has voted against renewal of legislation which permits the Special Criminal Court where Ní Shionnáin and her co-accused were sentenced. In the interview this morning she said that was an “irrelevant” point. 

In regard to whether she supports Erigí, which is a militant socialist republican group, she said she “abhors violence”.

“I don’t support any group that perpetuates violence. I abhor it as a mother and as a female TD and as a candidate in the presidential election. But we can’t have it everyway.

“We can’t send someone to prison, and they’re a model prisoner. They do everything. They realise that what they’ve done is wrong. They change their life, and they move in a new direction. What message would we be sending out if we don’t believe that,” she added. 

In a statement released this afternoon she further doubled down and said that she was seeking to rehabilitate 

“This is a very good example of rehabilitation and of the prison service working in this case to give somebody a second chance.

“The fundamental issue here is that we cannot claim to believe in rehabilitation while permanently excluding people who have completed their sentences and shown that they wish to contribute. This does not diminish victims, it reaffirms a basic principle of fairness and reintegration within the law,” she said. 

Eamon Ó Cuív had confirmed to The Journal that he knew Ursula Ní Shionnáin due to his visits to prisoners associated with dissidents in prison.

Ó Cuív, a former Fianna Fáíl politician, said he is continuing to conduct the visits to prisoners to develop reconciliation and secure the peace process. 

He said that Connolly had contacted him to ask about the Ní Shionnáin as she was preparing to employ her. Ó Cuív said that he had recommended her to Connolly. He said he had not considered employing Ní Shionnáin himself. 

Political reaction

Speaking at a meeting of EU leaders in Copenhagen earlier this morning, Taoiseach Micheál Martin was asked about the issue and heavily criticised Connolly’s judgement. 

The person Connolly had sought to hire, he said, had been “a member of an organisation that did everything to undermine the Irish peace process”.

“And I think Catherine Connolly needs to clarify that in its entirety, and be fully transparent in respect of it, but it is a very, very serious issue.”

Tánaiste Simon Harris said Connolly needed to clarify what she was and was not told by gardaí in relation to the hiring process. 

“I think it would be useful and fully transparent in relation to this,” Harris said.

Thomas Byrne, Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach, Foreign Affairs and Defence, also criticised Connolly’s behaviour.

He said Connolly should release all correspondence she made while trying to get security clearance for Ní Shionnáin.

Sinn Féin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty, speaking on Morning Ireland, said he was not concerned by the revelations and that yesterday’s report had shown Connolly followed the normal procedures in seeking to fill the role. 

Fellow candidate Heather Humphreys, who is running on the Fine Gael ticket, said: “This is a very serious issue. This person was a member of the Eirigí organisation which tried to dismantle the Good Friday Agreement. She was working in the houses of the Oireachtas for six months.

“My concern here is how did she have access to Oireachtas without garda clearance,” she said.

“Catherine really does have questions to answer here.”