Staff members within Sinn Féin considered resigning en masse in protest over the party leadership's handling of former senator Niall Ó Donnghaile, according to a new book by former party press officer Siobhán Fenton.

In her insider account, titled "Ourselves Alone: Sinn Féin Behind Closed Doors", Fenton details how party employees were left "distraught and furious" with party leader Mary Lou McDonald over the controversy. Ó Donnghaile stepped down from the Seanad in December 2023, with the party initially citing health reasons. It was subsequently disclosed in October 2024 that his resignation followed a complaint that he had sent inappropriate text messages to a teenager.

Fenton writes that staff members discussed stepping down collectively over safeguarding concerns and internal dissatisfaction. However, employees ultimately decided to remain in their roles, concluding that resigning would not lead to improvements in party safeguarding and fearing it would place an unfair burden on colleagues ahead of upcoming elections.

According to Fenton, criticism directed at McDonald over the affair was "entirely justified." Ó Donnghaile had been suspended by the party in September 2023 prior to his formal departure, though McDonald initially issued a statement thanking him for his public service when his resignation was announced.