The Sinn Féin President has struggled to pronounced the name of a former Belfast Lord Mayor who served as leader of the party in the Seanad for almost four years.
Speaking in the Dáil on Tuesday, Mary Lou McDonald addressed the inappropriate text messages sent by Niall O Donnghaile and the party’s decision not to disclose what had happened.
However, when delivering her speech, Ms McDonald pronounced the name ‘O Donnghaile’ in a variety of different ways.
“A further issue that’s been the subject of public commentary relates to an incident where a Sinn Féin representative sent inappropriate text messages to a 17-year-old,” she said.
“That representative was Senator Niall O Donnghaile (Doh-Knee-la).
“On September 11 2023 a party councillor received a complaint that an inappropriate message had been sent by Niall O Donnghaile (Dun-ah-la) to a 17-year-old male party member,” she explained.
“The young man wanted this to stop and he wanted no further contact to be made to him by Niall O Donnghaile (Dun-el-la).
“We were informed of a second individual receiving text massages from Niall O Donnghaile.”
