Suspended SF mayor 'will get a fair hearing'

Suspended Sinn Féin mayor Francie Molloy will be given a fair hearing when he appears before the party’s disciplinary committee, it was claimed today.

Mr Molloy, mayor of Dungannon District Council, Co Tyrone, was suspended earlier this week after he defied party strategists and spoke out against plans to slash the number of councils in the North from 26 to seven.

But Sinn Féin general secretary Mitchel McLaughlin vowed the case of the Mid-Ulster MLA will be dealt with democratically.

Mr McLaughlin said: “I am absolutely constrained by the requirements that this matter is dealt with in the manner of fair play to everyone.

“The question of whether or not an individual has followed the party’s structures will be decided in this disciplinary process, which will be a fair process, as Francie Molloy himself has acknowledged.

“I am constrained to get into the detail of it other than to make it clear that the party’s decision-making process in this is very open and democratic but it is necessarily an internal affair.”

Mr Molloy was informed of the suspension by Mr McLaughlin but the general secretary refused to give any further details about the move.

The veteran party member spoke out against the review of public administration announced by Secretary of State Peter Hain.

Mr Molloy called for the number of councils to be reduced to 15 whereas Sinn Féin have backed plans to cut the number to seven.

The party’s rivals condemned the decision to suspend Mr Molloy and accused Sinn Féin of running a dictatorship.