Dowdall was a 'black swan' in Sinn Féin, says Mary Lou McDonald

Party leader says she did not know Gerry ‘the Monk’ Hutch was present at a fundraising event she attended in 2014

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said of Jonathan Dowdall she 'missed what he was capable of going on to do'.  Picture: Moya Nolan

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has described Jonathan Dowdall’s involvement in the party as a “black swan incident", admitting she "missed what he was capable of going on to do".

In a wide-ranging interview with the Irish Examiner, the Dublin Central TD, who shared a constituency with Dowdall, said he was a “successful businessman” with a “beautiful family” when he was chosen as a party candidate.

She said if she had known what Dowdall would go on to do, he would not have been in her party and he “wouldn’t have been within a mile” of her.

Mr Dowdall is currently giving evidence against Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch in relation to the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel.

Ms McDonald also said she is certain no member of the Hutch family has given money to Sinn Féin. She also said she did not know Gerry ‘the Monk’ Hutch was present at a fundraising event she attended in 2014.

Asked how she will make sure in the future to avoid having people like Jonathan Dowdall in the party she said: “People come to Sinn Féin from all walks of life, and you meet and accept people into activism in good faith. That’s how I meet people.

I accept people in good faith until I have evidence as to why I shouldn’t and Sinn Féin activists, there’s thousands of us and they are people in good standing and of good faith. But you will have a sort of a black swan incident once in a lifetime.

She said the former Sinn Féin councillor was a successful businessman from the inner city with a “beautiful family, his wife was a civil servant, there was nothing that would have caused me to believe that he would go on to be capable of the things that he clearly was capable of".

Ms McDonald said she was not presented with evidence to kick Dowdall out of the party prior to him leaving.

Mary Lou McDonald said Jonathan Dowdall was a 'family man, so if I missed what he was capable of going on to do, I suspect that other people missed that as well'.

She said Dowdall gave young people from the inner city a chance, offering them apprenticeships.

“His company if you go and look at the clients that he had, I mean Bank of America, the Dublin Airport Authority, you know a big, big client base. A family man, so if I missed what he was capable of going on to do, I suspect that other people missed that as well.” She reiterated that if she had any idea that Dowdall would go on to do what he did, he would not have been in Sinn Féin, he would not have been running for election, and “wouldn’t have been within a mile of me".

Dowdall is currently testifying against Gerry 'the Monk' Hutch, who is facing a murder charge at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin.

The court has heard a claim by Dowdall during a taped conversation with Hutch that Ms McDonald had used the Hutch family for money and votes.

She has said this is “untrue".  On Tuesday, Dowdall expressed regret over his “unfair” comments about Ms McDonald.

When asked why she thought Dowdall sought to clarify comments he had made about her, she said: “I am not a mind reader but I can tell you that the remarks he had made on the tape about me were untrue.

“I can tell you that much; beyond that I can not speculate.”