Sinn Fein and how do they form a government dilemma

In O'Donghaile's case SF could have awaited the PSNI decision not to prosecute and never said anything, and nobody would ever have been the wiser.

Instead, they removed him from the senate and the party.

I have already said the tribute was OTT, but I can see why she was in an impossible position, say nothing and raise a controversy when someone is in a bad place mentally or issue a statement and move on.

And I have said if it emerges that his mental health situation was a concoction between him and SF then that is indeed a resigning matter.

As somebody previously said there are several versions floating around on WhatsApp.

Which one to believe is a matter of choice, I wouldn't believe any of them tbh

Some prominent SF people retweeting posts lauding Sinwar.

Until SF get the radical woke types out, it is a busted flush

As I said, they could have buried this completely on foot of a no prosecution statement from the PSNI which would have had impact on the victim too. A catch 22 situation.

You are entitled to your view, I see it differently.

The IT reported that was the finding of the investigation.

Stanley didn't go to the guards because that's not what happens in SF, he made his complaint to them. Funnily enough ML stated that if the original complaint had been criminal they would have gone straight to the guards but for some reason when Stanley made his they didn't.

And why was it up to SF to decide which complaint was 'criminal' and which one wasn't in the first place? Unless they and their barrister member were actually doing the deciding themselves, aka kangaroo court. Only when exposed as such did they run to the guards with BOTH complaints, two months later.

They haven't decided anything, they sent the complaint and counterclaim and the texts to the Gardai to assess and take action.
They also sent O'Donghaile's texts to the PSNI and responded to a PSNI investigation in McMonagle's case..

It is incontrovertible that they go to the authorities.

SF are not going to get more seats than FF at this stage. Which would mean their only chance of entering government is an FF-SF-Others "anyone but Harris" coalition, in which they would have to argue for rotation.

I'm not sure what the point is here.
Whether the finding was for or against him is immaterial.
All 3 can be true.
1. He is guilty of the complaint

2. He is not guilty of the complaint
3. The counter complaint is potentially criminal.

SF is going to lose seats, it appears.
I would say approx 25 seats. Nowhere near FF or FG.

Since the real raison d'etre of SF is a United Ireland, I often wonder how dazzling that policy is to voters at the moment.

Let's face it, a UI is not really on anyone's agenda on payday is it? There are far more pressing matters for the electorate at the moment which I don't have to point out.

A UI might happen some day, and many might like to see it happening, but it is not a pressing matter to me anyway and I'd say many others too. In fact for me, talk of a UI turns me right off. I wonder if I am alone in thinking like this.

Listen to this weeks Path to Power, Ivan Yates almost spells it out, Matt Cooper is bent over trying to cover their arse.

Yates describes it as a "he said, she said" that won't go anywhere with the guards, let alone the DPP. Yates does point out that Stanley has gone for maximum impact as he burnt his bridges, that MLMD has played it badly but her position is not under threat.

Indeed. Absorbing the poorest of the UK regions into our economy and trying to make them solvent at the same time is going to cost us a lot in tax rises. Potential for terrorist acts would be back in the frame from those not happy in a UI and Dublin would no doubt lose jobs to Belfast, as the Irish govt tries to run more private industry into the North.

Plenty of things to be sorting out in our own backyard first.

Pauline Tully, Sorca Clarke, Martin Browne, Johnny Mythen and Maurice Quinlivan are all under pressure. 3 from these plus the defectors.

Chris Andrews too

Any threat for Mark Ward in Dublin MW? Strong vote last time but any far right eating into that will hurt them for sure. Perhaps more likely that Gino Kelly is hurt by it?

They’d be as well not wasting resources in Dublin Rathdown and Dún Laoghaire.