“It has nothing to do with Sinn Féin.”
Those were Michelle O’Neill’s words yesterday when she was challenged over comments made by Máiría Cahill.
Nothing to do with Sinn Féin?
Really?
For the past two weeks now, Sinn Féin has demanded answers over Jeffrey Donaldson. They’ve rightly argued that safeguarding matters, that legitimate questions should be answered and that nobody should be above scrutiny.
On that principle, I couldn’t agree more.
NOBODY should be above scrutiny.
Not Jeffrey Donaldson.
Not the DuP.
Not Sinn Féin.
Not anyone.
So when Daily Mail journalist Brian Mahon quoted Máiría Cahill yesterday, he wasn’t engaging in whataboutery. He wasn’t trying to deflect from Jeffrey Donaldson. He was asking a simple question of Sinn Fein that goes to the heart of whether accountability means the same thing for everyone.
Máiría Cahill said:
“In 2014 Stormont’s Justice Committee voted to have an inquiry into what republicans knew on my case and Liam Adams. They dropped it in the next mandate. If politicians were truly serious about political disclosures regarding safeguarding issues, they would be setting the terms of reference already to cover these and Donaldson.”
That isn’t an unreasonable question.
It’s exactly the sort of question journalists should be asking. I wish more journalists challenged Sinn Fein like this more often.
Because if we’re going to examine what political parties knew, when they knew it and how safeguarding concerns were handled, then why would that principle begin and end with Jeffrey Donaldson?
That’s why Michelle O’Neill’s answer was so astonishing.
To say it has “nothing to do with Sinn Féin” ignores the very point being made.
This isn’t about one individual.
It’s about whether political parties are prepared to accept the same scrutiny they demand of everyone else.
Then came the moment that spoke louder than any prepared answer.
As Máiría Cahill’s name was mentioned, cameras appeared to capture visible eye rolls from some of those standing behind Michelle O’Neill, including Rose Conway Walsh.
People can watch the footage and draw their own conclusions.
I know what impression it left on me.
Because this wasn’t the name of a political opponent.
It wasn’t the name of someone making cheap party-political attacks.
It was the name of a woman who has spent years asking difficult questions about safeguarding, accountability and how allegations were handled.
Whether intended or not, many women and girls watching that moment may reasonably have wondered what message it sent.
If you’re asking women to have confidence in your commitment to tackling violence and abuse, public reactions to uncomfortable questions matter. Respect for survivors isn’t shown only when the cameras are rolling in your favour. It’s also shown in how seriously their names and experiences are treated when they’re raised in difficult moments.
And then there’s another question that still hasn’t been answered.
Following the Michael McMonagle scandal in 2024, Sinn Féin promised a safeguarding report.
The public was told there would be answers.
So where is it?
Why has it still not been published two years on?
If safeguarding is genuinely a priority, why has the public not seen the report that was promised?
What about the following individuals from Sinn Fein?
Seamus Marley
Liam Adams
Jimmy McDonnell
Cathal McLaughlin
Michael Marron
Martin Forbes
Christy Griffin
Stephen 'Rossi' Walsh
Those aren’t opposition questions.
They’re public interest questions.
I’ve been consistent throughout the Jeffrey Donaldson case.
The DuP should answer legitimate questions.
An independent inquiry should establish the facts wherever the evidence leads.
No one should be protected because of their office, their influence or the colour of their party logo.
But exactly the same standard must apply to Sinn Féin.
That’s why this has everything to do with Sinn Féin.
It has everything to do with the DuP.
It has everything to do with EVERY political party operating in Northern Ireland.
Because safeguarding isn’t a Unionist issue.
It isn’t a republican issue.
IT’S A PUBLIC CONFIDENCE ISSUE.
The public deserve to know that when concerns are raised, they are handled properly, transparently and without fear or favour, regardless of who is involved.
Yesterday wasn’t just another political press conference.
It exposed a contradiction.
You cannot demand complete transparency from your opponents while insisting legitimate questions about your own party have “nothing to do” with you.
They do.
They ALWAYS have.
And no amount of denial, no carefully rehearsed press conference and no dramatic eye roll will ever change that.
