MOTHER DREW €90K PENSION FOR HER DEAD PARENTS

MARK Dalton comes from a colourful family.

In 2003, his mother, Maureen, received a nine-month suspended sentence after she pleaded guilty to pension fraud at Naas Circuit Court.

She admitted drawing her dead parents’ pension for 15 years after then president Mary McAleese tried to send her mother, Brigid, a congratulatory letter for her 100th birthday.

St Vincent’s Hospital in Athy confirmed to Áras an Úachtaráin staff that Brigid had been dead for 12 years. Gardaí then launched an investigation into Maureen Dalton’s finances. The total amount of Mrs Dalton’s wrongful claims reached almost €90,000, the court heard. Mrs Dalton, a popular animal lover and family woman in her native Athy, died last year.

Mark’s brother, Des, is leader of Republican Sinn Féin, the political wing of the dissident republican group, Continuity IRA.

Des has appeared on RTÉ, the BBC and many other media outlets defending the Continuity IRA, especially after two of its members killed a PSNI officer in 2009.

He was also known for having a very heated debate with RTÉ radio presenter Joe Duffy in 2014. The debate followed a noisy Republican Sinn Féin protest against British royal the Duke of Kent’s participation in a WWI commemoration ceremony in Glasnevin cemetery.

Des Dalton took over the presidency of Republican Sinn Féin from veteran republican Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, the former chief of staff of the Provisional IRA.

His election as Republican Sinn Féin president caused a split in Continuity IRA, and more militant elements left the party, along with the Continuity IRA chief of staff. They believed that Mr Dalton was too moderate and unwilling to launch a major paramilitary campaign in Northern Ireland.