Overview

• Catherine Connolly says Garda vetting for the 2018 recruit never concluded, no permanent pass was issued, and the woman left after less than six months.
• She maintains she had no contact with gardaí about the case and was never told the candidate would fail security clearance.
• The woman was named in reports as Ursula Ní Shionnain, who was convicted by the Special Criminal Court in 2014 of firearms offences and served almost four-and-a-half years.
• Taoiseach Micheál Martin called the decision a very serious lack of judgement, and Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys asked how access to the Oireachtas occurred before vetting was complete.
• Former Fianna Fáil minister Éamon Ó Cuív confirmed he recommended Ní Shionnain and framed the hire as rehabilitation, while Connolly now raises privacy concerns over how the details became public.