FORMER Senator Niall Ó Donnghaile has revealed he is the Sinn Féin member who stepped down after sending inappropriate messages.
He confirmed that he sent the messages to a 17-year-old in September 2023. In December, Mr Ó Donnghaile said he would be resigning from the Seanad upon advice from his doctor.
In a statement given to the Irish News on Tuesday afternoon, the former Belfast Lord Mayor said he accepted his behaviour warranted stepping down and apologised for his actions.
“I also accept that I have caused great embarrassment to myself, my family, friends and former colleagues – this was never my intention,” he said.
“Since resigning from political and public life almost a year ago, and now as a private citizen, my main focus has been on improving my mental health and also supporting a relative through a challenging period of ill-health – this remains my priority and I ask that I and all those concerned are allowed to move on, with our privacy respected.”
From Short Strand in East Belfast, Niall Ó Donnaghaile served as Lord Mayor of Belfast from 2011 to 2012. At 25, he was the city's youngest person ever to take up the post of First Citizen. He was elected to the Seanad in 2016.
Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald is expected to make a statement in the Dáil later today about a number of controversies currently engulfing the party.
