A Sinn Féin official reportedly confronted party member Jonathan Dowdall about his criminal activity before he was elected as a councillor, contradicting party leader Mary Lou McDonald’s claim that they had “no inkling” of Dowdall’s involvement. Dowdall is a protege of McDonald’s and has been convicted of torturing a man and involvement in the gangland murder at Dublin’s Regency Hotel. He has also been described as a “base, callous criminal” and “a suspected member of the IRA”. Dowdall made financial contributions to Sinn Féin, including a €1,000 cheque donated to McDonald.

A Sinn Féin official who stood up to Jonathan Dowdall about his suspected involvement in criminal activity is a key aide of party leader Mary Lou McDonald, according to the Irish Independent. The official is understood to have confronted Dowdall about his links to dissident republican terrorists, and questioned him about his involvement in a gun attack on his uncle’s home. Dowdall, who was once a Sinn Féin councillor, has since been convicted of torturing a man and involvement in the gangland murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel in Dublin in early 2016. The murder triggered the deadly Kinahan-Hutch feud. Dowdall allegedly made several financial contributions to Sinn Féin, including a €1,000 cheque to McDonald.