Sinn Fein councillors to speak out on bullying

Allegations of bullying within Sinn Féin are set to intensify after it was claimed a group of councillors will make a joint statement raising further concerns about alleged abuse within the party.

On Tuesday, at the start of Sinn Féin’s two-day pre-Dáil think-in held in Meath, the party’s youngest female councillor became the latest elected Sinn Féin member to quit amid claims she was being bullied.

Limerick councillor Lisa Marie Sheehy said in a statement there is “a culture of bullying” in the party and that the atmosphere she had to endure was “hostile and toxic”.

Party leader Gerry Adams and a number of other senior officials immediately rejected the claim — the latest in a series of similar allegations made against the party over the past two years — saying the accusation could not be verified.

Despite Mr Adams denying the party has a bullying problem, the issue is expected to be raised again in the coming days amid claims a group of party councillors are set to say Sinn Féin is suffering from “a culture of bullying”.