Friday, February 14, 2025

Sinn Féin Councillor claims he was victim of intimidation

Westmeath’s longest serving Sinn Féin public representative, Cllr. Paul Hogan from Athlone, caused shock this week, when he issued a public statement on Monday afternoon, 26 June, in which he claims that since October, 2015, he has been the victim of a bullying campaign against him by other party members, and said he had only lost out by 285 votes to Deputy Willie Penrose in the 2016 General Election, despite some SF people canvassing against him.
Cllr. Hogan’s statement, coming while he was attending the Council meeting in Mullingar alongside the two other Sinn Féin Council members, Sorcha Clarke and Una Dárcy, has caused widespread comment, while a statement from Sinn Féin headquarters said they had dealt with the complaints made by Cllr. Hogan and they rejected claims he had been the victim of a kangaroo court or that he got lesser Sinn Féin support in the general election in 2016, saying Gerry Adams, party president, had canvassed with him.
Cllr. Hogan went forward on four occasions in General Elections, seeking a Dáil seat, without success, coming closest in 2016.
Cllr. Hogan said this was his first time to speak out, and he had endured a 20-month ordeal, which had a negative impact on his health, had received medical assistance a number of times, and underwent a surgical procedure caused by the stress he endured. It had also impacted on his daily work levels, he said.
In his statement. Cllr. Hogan said he believes Sinn Féin lost the seat in Longford-Westmeath because of the campaign against him.
“I have been intimidated and threatened,” he says, and said there was a spurious and unrelenting campaign of “whispering and innuendo” after he broke up with his then partner, and said he was accused “of the most insidious and vile allegations, all of which were found to be untrue.”
“Some members of Sinn Féin canvassed against me in the election. As many will recall, I hit the crossbar in the general election, losing by a mere 280 votes, from a total of 55,816, a margin of 0.5%.
He claims that Sinn Féin management withdrew all resources for his campaign, and tried to hide posters and literature paid for locally.
Saying that “bullying is rife in Sinn Féin across the country and I can give many examples” he said the vast majority of Sinn Féin members are good people.
“I documented all that happened to me, detailing the kangaroo court, intimidation, bullying and whispering campaigns. I then submitted an official complaint of over 80 instances of varying levels of bullying to the new Disciplinary Committee of Sinn Féin, who refused to deal with the issues contained in the complaint,” he said. “This is a clear attempt to cover up and protect those who tried to destroy my reputation.”
“Since the election, I and any of the local structures who supported me were subjected to a policy of isolation and marginalisation.
Cllr. Hogan expressed thanks to the members of his local organisation for standing with him all the way, and thanked the mid-Longford and north-Longford Sinn Féin who rescinded their membership because of the way he was treated. He thanked his family and his partner for their unstinting support “during this difficult time” and thanked the 7,824 Longford Westmeath votes who put their trust in him.
“I wil continue to serve the people who elected me to the best of my ability,” his statement concluded.
Topic sought a comment from the two other elected Council members, but up to press time, only Cllr. Clarke responded. At least half a dozen phone calls were made to Cllr. Dárcy, seeking a response.
COUNCILLOR’S
COMMENTS
Westmeath’s Cllr. Sorcha Clarke told Topic this week that “a robust complaints procedure” operates within Sinn Féin, which is open to every member and clearly Paul feels aggrieved that his complaint was not upheld. 
“While there will always be a competitive nature to politics, in my experience, when our internal structures are engaged with, they are an effective mechanism to resolve disputes which may occasionally arise,” she said.  
“I am, however, deeply disappointed, as no doubt are the wider membership and supporters of Sinn Féin across the constituency, that their years of hard work, canvassing and tireless campaigning during his numerous unsuccessful general elections were overlooked and not acknowledged by Cllr. Hogan. 
“Sinn Féin has grown significantly in this constituency over recent years and I look forward to working positively with all members, including Paul, to ensure we deliver a Sinn Féin TD at the next general election,” her statement concluded
The Sinn Féin organisation, in a statement, said that complaints received about Cllr. Hogan had been investigated but not upheld.
“Since then, the party has done all in its power to heal the rifts within the constituency and the majority of party members are continuing to work with Cllr. Hogan.
“It is not true to say that Cllr. Hogan received little or no support from Sinn Féin in the General election. Party president, Gerry Adams was in the constituency canvassing with Cllr. Hogan during the campaign.
“Sinn Féin takes these matters extremely seriously. In accordance with legal advice, we have established a National Investigation Committee to handle complaints of this nature. We are not involved in kangaroo courts and we reject this allegation in the strongest terms. Death threats and hate mail are a matter for An Garda Siochána and the party has told Cllr. Hogan this,” their response concluded.

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