Former Offaly Sinn Fein chair 'astounded' by bullying claim

A FORMER chair of Sinn Fein in Offaly has said he is astounded by a High Court action against the party over allegations of bullying.

Peter Judge told the Tullamore Tribune on Saturday he was “baffled” by the High Court proceedings taken by Anne Marie Ennis, former constituency worker in the office of Carol Nolan, the Offaly TD who left Sinn Fein because of her opposition to abortion.

Mr Judge and Ms Nolan are listed as defendants in the proceedings, along with Pat Doherty, a retired Sinn Fein MP, Arthur Morgan, a retired TD, and Sue Ramsey, a former MLA.

Ms Ennis is a resident of Walsh Island and was an unsuccessful candidate in the Tullamore Electoral Area in last year's Offaly County Council elections.

The Sunday Times reports today that court records show the case taken by Ms Ennis is a personal injury action under Section 17 of the 2003 Personal Injuries Act, which deals with claims made where the alleged harm is wholly or in part made up of psychological damage.

When the Tribune contacted Mr Judge on Saturday he said he had not heard anything about the legal action, which was filed by Ms Ennis on Thursday.

“I'm absolutely astounded. It makes no sense to me whatsoever,” he said.

“I had got on very well with Anne Marie. Everything I have done for the party in the past six years has been on a voluntary basis.”

Ms Ennis polled lowest of all the candidates in the Tullamore area last year following the decision of the 2014 council election poll topper for Sinn Fein, Brendan Killeavy, not to defend his seat.

Mr Judge had initially been director of elections for Ms Ennis but left that role when he was selected by Sinn Fein to contest the local elections in the Moate area in Westmeath.

He now works as a voluntary political organiser in the Longford-Westmeath constituency and was involved in the successful general election campaign this year for Sorca Clarke.

Speaking to the Sunday Times on Friday evening, Ms Ennis declined to talk in detail about her legal case. “It’s quite emotional,” she said. “It’s taken a lot out of me.”

Deputy Nolan, an Independent TD in Offaly since 2018, did not respond to phone calls or text messages from the Sunday Times on Saturday.

In a short statement, a Sinn Fein spokesperson said: “Anne Marie Ennis was never an employee of Sinn Féin.  The trustees of Sinn Féin have been attached to the case. We have no further comment to make.”

Earlier this year it was reported that 27 elected representatives of Sinn Fein had left the party in recent years over bullying and other complaints.

The party has insisted there is no culture of bullying within Sinn Fein which had its best ever general election results earlier this year.