Harris expecting ‘highest standards’ in disciplinary process over Senator's arrest

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

Fine Gael leader Simon Harris has claimed it would have been “very unusual” for him to have reopened a party probe into Senator Martin Conway’s previous behaviour.

Senator Conway resigned from the Fine Gael parliamentary party over the weekend after admitting to being arrested by gardaí for being intoxicated in public.

He said he had been arrested on Dublin’s O’Connell Street on January 22nd for being in an intoxicated state “due to consumption of sleeping tablets and alcohol”.

He was not charged.

Mr Conway, from Co Clare, was re-elected to the Seanad in the period between the arrest and the first reports of the incident.

Asked on Wednesday for his reaction to the matter, Mr Harris said: “I’m aware of the distressing circumstances in relation to this, and indeed the issue of medication and alcohol.

“But when an individual is arrested on O’Connell Street – that is not in a normal scenario for a parliamentarian to find themselves in and it was appropriate for him to resign the whip.”

Mr Harris said there would be a disciplinary process for Mr Conway centred around the circumstances of his arrest, but added that it would also take into account any previous issues that had arisen.

He said: “I expect the highest standards to be upheld and I will expect to be considered as part of the process.”

It has also emerged that the Senator was subject to a separate internal investigation over allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards a female party staff member.

Speaking to reporters before Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting, Mr Harris said: “There was a previous issue – that predates my leadership by many years – in 2018.”

He said it first came to his attention in late 2024. He became leader of the party in April last year, succeeding Leo Varadkar who had been in the role since 2017.

Mr Harris said the party had investigated the issue and determined that no further action would be taken after an apology was issued.

Mr Harris said: “From my perspective, when the issue had been examined, when an apology had been issued, when it was deemed at that stage that no further action was required, it would be a very unusual thing for a new leader to then reopen a matter that in that context was deemed to require no further action many years past.”

Mr Conway, who has a visual impairment, was nominated to contest the Seanad election by sight-loss agency Vision Ireland.

The controversy also follows strong criticism for the party’s decision to support John McGahon in November’s general election, after a video emerged of him involved in an altercation.

Mr McGahon failed to get elected in the Louth consistency after his campaign was beset by questions over the footage, which showed the candidate apparently engaged in a fight outside a pub in 2018.

Asked about his judgement around allowing party members to run following controversial behaviour, Mr Harris said: “This obviously happened many years before my leadership and Senator Conway ran in the Seanad election in 2020, that needs to be remarked upon as well.

“And of course, Senator Conway didn’t receive a Fine Gael nomination, he did receive an outside nomination from Vision Ireland – although I absolutely accept he was a Fine Gael senator.”