Mary Lou should give Dowdall’s €1,000 donation to Criminal Assets Bureau – Carroll MacNeill

A Fine Gael TD has called on the leader of Sinn Féin to give the €1,000 donation she received from criminal Jonathan Dowdall to the Criminal Assets Bureau.

The former Sinn Féin councillor, who tortured a man and then went onto facilitate the Regency Hotel gun attack and murder, donated by cheque €1,000 to Deputy Mary Lou McDonald in 2011 which she admitted for the first time, at the weekend, were probably used for election expenses.

Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said the Sinn Féin leader has done nothing to resolve the donation despite Dowdall being intrinsically linked to crime in her constituency.

“It’s like this. Dowdall is now known to be a gangland criminal and he gave money to Mary Lou McDonald in Dublin Central which she says was probably used for her general election expenses in 2011.

“And she has done nothing about it.

“Not given it away, not relinquished it to the Criminal Assets Bureau, not made reparation to a charity supporting victims of crime. Nothing,” Deputy Carroll MacNeill said.

“Is she afraid of setting a precedent?

“She’s more than happy to ensure her frontbench TDs apologise for the potential hurt feelings of a respected civil servant. But she’ll do nothing about this, rather she insults every victim of crime in the country by doing nothing.

“She did nothing of use for Maria Cahill. She did nothing of use for Breege Quinn.

“You have to wonder what her real view on criminality is. We know she can treat categories of crime in her mind, but let’s be clear – Mary Lou McDonald has, in her own words at the weekend, probably used Dowdall’s donation in her successful 2011 General Election.

“And numerous media reports have placed Dowdall up close and personal to criminal elements in Dublin’s North inner city since he was a teenager. He took loans from them for his businesses, to meet payroll costs.

“The Sinn Féin leader is a Dublin TD. Dublin and her constituents have suffered immensely because of the likes of Dowdall and his ilk.

“She should give the donation away. Give it to the Criminal Assets Bureau. Give it to somewhere that will make proper use of it. But give it away and give it away now,” Deputy Carroll MacNeill said.