COUNTER-TERRORISM GARDAÍ intervened to stop Catherine Connolly from hiring a woman convicted of a gun crime to work in Leinster House, The Journal has learned. Originally from Clonsilla in Dublin, Ní Shionnáin was, at the time, a prominent member of the socialist republican group Éirigí. Ní Shionnáin, who was 34 when she was released in 2018, was an accomplished student prior to her prison sentence. Since her release, she has built a successful career as an advocate for the Irish language and currently works for the Meath Gaeltacht. AdvertisementA Facebook page bearing the name Ursula Ní Shionnáin has a banner saying ‘Connolly do Uachtaránacht’ (Connolly for President’).