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Eamon Ryan says any ‘perceived’ links between Sinn Féin and Hutch gang are bad for politics

He said the public will ultimately decide what standards apply to political parties.

27th November 2022

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has said any perceived connections with criminality are not good for the political system and must be called out.

He said the public will ultimately decide what standards apply to political parties.

Mr Ryan was speaking at his party’s annual convention in Athlone on Saturday after the Special Criminal Court this week heard a former Sinn Féin councillor was secretly recorded claiming Mary Lou McDonald used the Hutch family for money and votes.

The court heard Jonathan Dowdall, a former Dublin City councillor, was recorded criticising Ms McDonald for not going to the funeral of the brother of murder accused Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch.

Dowdall was heard in the recording telling Hutch she stayed away from the funeral “but yous were good enough Gerard to use for votes, yous were good enough to use for money.”

The garda recording was played at the Special Criminal Court.

When Mr Ryan was asked if he was concerned about what was heard in Court, he said “politics of division and the negative politics we see some planning” was not something his party engaged in but any perceived connections with criminality were not good for the political system.

“We obviously call out if there’s any criminality or if there’s instances in public life where people are not living up to proper standards, you call it out,” he added.

“Any sort of connection with such criminality, it’s not good for our political system for that to be seen and that to be understood to be true, but I think our job is not to double down on some of the populist rhetoric, it is to work with everyone to make this transformation we need. We manage our own affairs, trying to make sure that we are up to the best standards, and let the public decide what standards apply in other parties. They are the judge in the end.”

The Green Party’s annual convention is taking place in person for the first time in three years.