Tully laments media agenda after latest SF reports

Deputy Pauline Tully disavowed any knowledge of the unofficial supporters’ group named ‘Sinn Féin’, which was invite only and had almost 16,000 members.

A local Sinn Féin TD believes there to be a “clear and obvious” media agenda after she and other party members were linked in news reports to a secret social media group containing abusive personal attacks about other politicians and sometimes violent or racist comments.

Deputy Pauline Tully disavowed any knowledge of the unofficial supporters’ group named ‘Sinn Féin’, which was invite only and had almost 16,000 members. She also welcomed the decision by Sinn Féin HQ to contact social media giant Facebook about the page, which is not party affiliated, and demand it be taken off-line.

“I was not even aware the group even existed,” said Deputy Tully of the page, which was created in 2013.

Deputy Tully says she also spoke to her colleague Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim) about the page at the weekend.

Deputy Kenny was listed a member of the offending group, along with Violet Anne Wynne (Clare) and several other Sinn Fein councillors. But once their affiliation was highlighted in the media, both TDs left the group.

“He didn’t even know!” says Deputy Tully of Deputy Kenny’s membership of the page.

“It’s clear and it’s obvious there is an agenda there to try and smear Sinn Féin,” contends Deputy Tully of the subsequent reporting, which followed consecutive surveys showing Sinn Féin riding high in the polls nationally. “Whether they’re purposely doing it or not, the [national media] are working with Fine Gael, and to a lesser extent Fianna Fail, to try and undermine Sinn Féin in anyway they can because they see us as the biggest threat to them holding onto power.”

Regarding the closed Sinn Féin online group and the comments made, Deputy Tully said she does not condone such abusive behaviour in any way. “If I argue with someone, or disagree with someone about politics, personal life doesn’t come into it. We want to get into power because we feel we can make a difference in people’s lives.”

Deputy Tully went on to state that some of those making comments may not be even members of the Sinn Féin party.

“It’s not an official Sinn Féin [page], the party has nothing to do with it. There might be some members connected to it, but we can only ask our members not to be part of these groups,” she said.

It’s alleged that one of the page’s administrators is a person who campaigned on behalf of Deputy Tully in the last election. There is no allegation that the person was involved in posting controversial comments online however.

For paid-up party members found to be involved in such actions, Deputy Tully considers that “sanctions” would be appropriate.

“Anything we’ve brought up about other parties in the Dáil has been about their actions. It’s not about their personal lives or their support base. We get [attacks] too. A political party cannot control what people put up on social media. There should be stricter controls on social media, on Twitter or Facebook or wherever because, as a teacher, I know how hurtful what goes up about someone can be or the impact it can have.”

Sinn Féin meanwhile said the party does not operate, nor is it responsible for any of the content of the group posted online.

“There is an onus on social media platforms such as Facebook to tackle this type of content, which is clearly unacceptable, and in violation of their own standards. We have contacted Facebook to make it clear that Sinn Féin has nothing to do with this group and that they should remove it,” a spokesman for the party said.