Fianna Fáil HQ told Cllr. Paddy Kilduff in 2016 that it wasn’t possible to hold an investigation into the alleged illegal recording of a party meeting in Strokestown in 2015, at which Cllr. Kilduff made controversial remarks on the same-sex marriage referendum.
This would appear to contradict the stance of Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, who, speaking in Ballinasloe recently, again insisted that the matter had indeed been investigated.
Cllr. Kilduff, who resigned from Fianna Fáil in protest at how the party has treated him in recent years, says it is now self-evident that Deputy Martin has been “misinformed on this saga” and that his own HQ is at odds with him on the matter.
Cllr. Kilduff has called on Deputy Martin to speak with senior members of the party in Roscommon “in order to get to the bottom” of recent controversies within Fianna Fáil locally.
During his recent visit, the Fianna Fáil leader dismissed Cllr. Kilduff’s ongoing claims, saying: “The matter was investigated…it took a lot of time, there was a lot of engagement on all sides, and I have nothing really further to add to it…there was an investigation and it is not my function to second-guess that investigation”.
However, Cllr. Kilduff has now produced correspondence to support his claim that no investigation took place.
“Micheál Martin has no business rejecting my reasons for resigning from Fianna Fáil. In January 2016 I wrote to the General Secretary of the party requesting an investigation to identify those responsible for the recording saga. On the 10th of February 2016 I received the following response (from the General Secretary):
‘Please note that it is not possible for me to accede to your request to convene an investigation into the illegal recording of the Party meeting at Strokestown, the illegal use of personal data for the purposes of coercion and the subsequent leaking of personal data to the media by members of the party because you do not make any specific complaint against any named member of the Party.’”
Cllr. Kilduff claims Fianna Fáil won’t investigate the Strokestown recording controversy because the likely outcome would be “too politically inconvenient” for a party which he now insists has been taken over by “unelected administrators”.
