Connolly must publish emails querying vetting of former inmate, McEntee says

Eva Osborne

Helen McEntee has said Catherine Conolly must publish the emails where she queried the vetting of a person previously convicted of firearms offences whom she signed into Leinster House.

The deputy leader of Fine Gael said Connolly rightly seeks accountability and transparency as a public representative, and the public "should be afforded the same opportunity on this issue".

It recently emerged that Connolly had employed a woman in Leinster House who had been found guilty by the Special Criminal Court for possession of firearms and ammunition more than 10 years ago.

After serving more than four years, the former Éirígí member was shortly thereafter recruited by Ms Connolly to work on a committee on the Irish language.

Ms Connolly said she had signed the woman in for day passes to Leinster House but she left her work before the outcome of a clearing process for a regular access pass – which went on for six months.

In a statement on Tuesday evening, Helen McEntee said: “Someone who wants to become our President but has admitted to signing a serious criminal into our national parliament for half a year has to release all details on this to enable the public have all relevant information.

“What is in the e-mails? What exact dates was this person signed in for six months with no garda clearance?"

The Education Minister also said the Connolly campaign should provide a full breakdown of her €3,700 taxpayers’ funded trip to Syria to meet supporters of the vile dictator Bashar al-Assad in 2018.

The Irish Times revealed last week that Connolly used €3,700 from a taxpayer funded Parliamentary Activities Allowance for the trip where they met Fares al-Shehabi – a supporter of dictator Bashar al-Assad – who was placed under European Union sanctions.

“The electorate is entitled to a full breakdown of what the finance was used for in relation to this trip to a country under a dictator’s regime,” McEntee said.