'A disgrace': Mary Lou McDonald's top among complaints to Ceann Comhairle

One bizarre complaint was made about a top that Mary Lou McDonald wore in Leinster House once. File photo: Leon Farrell / RollingNews.ie

How Mary Lou McDonald was dressed, “passive aggression” from questioners at a committee hearing, and accusations that a TD was inciting violence were among the complaints made to the Ceann Comhairle over the past six months.

Another complained about disparaging comments that were made about the Irish soccer player Robbie Keane while one asked the Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl to step in to save Ireland’s sovereignty from the World Health Organisation.

One email from October said they felt Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald’s “top [was] a disgrace today” claiming it was too revealing.

The bizarre complaint said: “There is a shyness about commenting on women's clothes and she is taking advantage of this. But it must be commented on. It is disrespectful and it shows she has no respect for her audience or her place of work.” 

The complainant said there should be a dress code in place for Leinster House and explained how there were “lots of plain cheap tee-shirts in Dunnes and [that] a jacket over a tee-shirt would be fine.” 

The aggressive questioning of staff from the Environmental Protection Agency at a committee hearing over the significant contribution of agriculture to river pollution was also flagged with the Ceann Comhairle in two separate complaints.

A member of the public said Robbie Keane’s name had been mentioned in two Dáil speeches due to his role with the Israeli soccer club Maccabi Tel Aviv and suggestions of 'sports-washing'. File photo: AP/Ariel Schalit

One email said: “What happened today was not serious, robust probing of the science. It was a performative hatchet job and an attempt to undermine and discredit the work of the EPA and the very many highly professional staff that work there.

“Despite the passive aggression and downright rudeness, the three experts were unflappable in their responses and in the explanation of the science.” 

Another wrote to say the “level of disrespect, passive aggression and downright rudeness” had been unfit for the national parliament.

The reputation of former Irish soccer star Robbie Keane was also raised with the office of the Ceann Comhairle.

In an email, a member of the public said Mr Keane’s name had been mentioned in two Dáil speeches due to his role with the Israeli soccer club Maccabi Tel Aviv and suggestions of “sports-washing”.

The complaint said: “I consider the … statements to be an attack on the reputation and character of a private citizen who was not present to defend himself.

“That the citizen in question has provided huge pleasure to the Irish public over the years makes the attacks particularly reprehensible to my mind.” 

Other complaints filed with the Ceann Comhairle included one about Ireland’s involvement in international plans for pandemic preparedness, the erosion of human rights in Northern Ireland, and the level of criticism of Israel by some parliamentarians.

Protected complaints

The Oireachtas also withheld four complaints made by TDs directly to the Ceann Comhairle.

They claimed that these were “private papers” and exempt from release under FOI using legislation that was originally designed to protect whistleblowers.

Access to a copy of a further complaint from a serving member of An Garda Síochána was also refused because it contained details of that officer’s personal information.

Asked about the records, a spokeswoman for the Oireachtas said they had nothing further to add to them.