COUNTER-TERRORISM GARDAÍ intervened to stop Catherine Connolly from hiring a woman convicted of a gun crime to work in Leinster House, The Journal has learned. 

The presidential candidate sought to hire Ursula Ní Shionnáin as an administrative support when she was on the Oireachtas committee for the Irish language in 2018.

Ní Shionnáin 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.

Originally from Clonsilla in Dublin, Ní Shionnáin was, at the time, a prominent member of the socialist republican group Éirigí.

According to multiple sources, 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 contested the decision and wrote to authorities seeking to overturn it, but the decision was upheld. 

Ní Shionnáin, who is also known as Shannon, served almost four-and-a-half years of her six-year sentence before she was released from prison in 2018, shortly before Connolly sought to hire her. 

TDs can hire people to work on specific projects as needed, in addition to their full-time administrative assistant. The roles require a stringent garda security vetting process.

It’s understood the Irish speaker was initially recruited to help with the deputy’s work for the committee on the Irish language. 

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. 

Since her release, she has built a successful career as an advocate for the Irish language and currently works for the Meath Gaeltacht. She appeared before an Oireachtas committee last year to speak about language planning in the Gaeltacht. 

She declined to comment when contacted by The Journal.  

A Facebook page bearing the name Ursula Ní Shionnáin has a banner saying ‘Connolly don Uachtaránacht’ (Connolly for President’).

Ursula Ní Shannáin photographed in 2014 outside the Special Criminal Court. Collins Courts. Collins Courts.

When contacted, the Connolly campaign did not comment.

Ní Shionnáin and three others were arrested by armed gardaí in a stolen van outside the home of an arms dealer in Rahan, Co Offaly, on 27 November 2012.

She and two of the other men pled not guilty to unlawful possession of two handguns and possession of 32 rounds of ammunition.

During her trial in 2014, prosecutors made the case that gardaí were in receipt of confidential information that a stolen vehicle would be used as part of an operation by dissident republicans for a theft at a property in Co Offaly. 

The Special Criminal Court heard that a search of the vehicle found two handguns and a stungun, as well as ammunition, cable ties, black pillow cases, canisters of petrol, wigs and disguises. 

Gardaí gave evidence that Ní Shionnáin and one of the other men were wearing wigs, and all four of the accused had taken steps to conceal their physical appearances. 

She was sentenced by the Special Criminal Court in February 2014 after being found guilty following a short trial. The court was told that Ní Shionnáin had no previous convictions. 

One of the handguns recovered was tested by garda ballistic experts and found to have been previously used in a murder in Tallaght in February 2002. The court heard there was no suggestion that any of the defendants were involved in that offence. 

It is understood that the Special Detective Unit as well as other counter-terror elements of Irish national security were involved in the decision not to grant clearance for Ní Shionnáin to work for the Oireachtas. The head of security in Leinster House, known as the Captain of the Guard, was also involved in the decision.

Other people have worked in Leinster House who previously served prison sentences for offences involving weapons.

Among them, Dessie Ellis, a Sinn Féin TD for Dublin North-West, was sentenced to 10 years in jail in 1983 after being found guilty of possessing materials to make explosive devices for the IRA. Sinn Féin has said that Ellis “has made no secret of his involvement in the republican struggle, including within the ranks of the IRA. Dessie has also been an important persuader for the peace process for many years.”

Former Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris also served almost 10 years after attempting to import explosives, firearms and ammunition in to Ireland in 1984. 

Additional reporting by Brian Kavanagh