Mary Lou must surely want to know if suspected paedophile was in SF

YOU would have to suspect, deep down in herheartof hearts, Mary Lou McDonald would like to know if a suspected paedophile was a member of the party she leads when he allegedly sexually abused 16-year-old Máiría Cahill.

You would like to think this would be at the very top of Ms McDonald’s agenda.

What other issue could be more pressing for a political leader other than determining if a member of her party was a child abuser?

What else could she be thinking about as her party returns to the Dáil from the summer recess?

Once it was revealed the Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland found RUC intelligence which suggested Ms Cahill’s alleged abuser, Martin Morris, was a member of Sinn Féin and was suspended from the party as he was suspected of abusing children, surely Ms McDonald went to the ends of the Earth to establish if this was true.

It must turn her stomach to think an alleged paedophile was sexually abusing children while possibly a member of her party.

It must weigh heavy on her mind. Just like it weighs on Ms Cahill’s mind.

Ms Cahill this week bravely told Jennifer O’Leary on BBC Northern Ireland’s ‘Spotlight’ about the mental trauma she endured because of her rape ordeal.

Ms McDonald must have watched and seen Ms Cahill’s tears as she described being brought before her alleged abuser during an IRA investigation into her claims.

It must have appalled Ms McDonald to think her party could be associated with such heinous treatment of a woman seeking help after a sexual assault.

Unfortunately, her actions to date do not suggest any interest in Ms Cahill’s abuse allegations.

On Tuesday, on the plinth outside Leinster House, Ms McDonald said she knew “full well” about the “kind of trauma” associated with child sex abuse.

She said Ms Cahill had her “utmost sympathy and compassion” and apologised because Sinn Féin did not have “rigorous procedures” in place to deal with child sex abuse when her alleged abuse took place.

So despite knowing “full well” about the trauma Ms Cahill is experiencing, Ms McDonald has shown no serious intent of establishing whether her abuser was a member of Sinn Féin or not.

Again on Tuesday, Ms McDonald said she “asked” and was “advised” there is “no evidence or record” of Mr Morris being a member of Sinn Féin. She did not say whose advice she sought.

However, she added: “He was, of course, a former prisoner, he was a person who was very active on the ground so I can’t discount that he may have been a member. Our record keeping was not as it is now 20 years ago and there is no record of any suspension of him.”

No records? Maybe, but perhaps she could ask Gerry Adams if Mr Morris was a Sinn Féin member during his three-decade reign of the party. There must be any amount of people in Belfast who could help her determine the truth.

If she knows “full well” the trauma endured by Ms Cahill, then surely Ms McDonald is doing everything in her power to end that pain.