Michelle O’Neill says internal Sinn Féin inquiry into McMonagle issues ‘not required’

An internal inquiry into the party’s handling of issues related to a former Sinn Féin employee was “not required”, First Minister Michelle O’Neill has said.

She said this was because the two party colleagues who had provided a reference to Michael McMonagle had resigned.

The Sinn Féin vice president also said that the party was not aware of allegations against McMonagle before the police investigation.

Last month, McMonagle, 42, from Limewood Street, Derry, admitted a series of offences, including attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

It also came to light that Sean Mag Uidhir and Caolan McGinley resigned as Sinn Féin press officers on Saturday, days after it emerged they had given references for their former colleague, McMonagle, for a job at a charity in 2022.

Calling the action of the two press officers “gross misconduct”, Ms O’Neill defended the party’s handling of the situation and said she had a “zero tolerance for this”.

She said: “I’m horrified by the actions of the two former employees.

“They should not have done it. It was wrong. They have both now resigned as a result of an internal process and that was the appropriate thing to do, because it did demonstrate gross misconduct.

“The minute I became aware of this, I took action, I did something about it, and both former colleagues have now resigned, and that’s appropriate because it represented misconduct.”

Ms O’Neill was also asked about an event she attended in February 2023, where McMonagle was also present, while working for the British Heart Foundation.

She said: “People have shown me in the past few days photographs of Michael McMonagle at a certain event, an event which I went to support the Donate4Dáithí campaign. That’s the first I’ve seen of the individual since he left our employment.

“I discharged my duties in terms of an employer, in terms of what we needed to do, and then he’s off into the world in terms of the police investigation, and that’s all been conducted.

“So I’m confident and content that I did everything that I needed to do.”

I am sure that the leader of Sinn Fein will do the right thing on this in terms of answering very legitimate, important, fundamental questionsTaoiseach Simon Harris

She added: “I was not aware that Michael McMonagle was at that event.”

It was the second time on Wednesday that Ms O’Neill was pressed on what she and her party knew about McMonagle, the former Sinn Féin press officers, and the charity event in February 2023.

Speaking at a Stormont committee earlier on Wednesday, she said she was “aghast and horrified” that two Sinn Féin press officers had provided references for McMonagle.

“It would not have happened had they have come and asked for permission, they would not have been given permission,” she said.

The Sinn Féin leadership has also come under pressure south of the border to clarify what it knew about the issue, and two government TDs called for Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald to make a statement in the Dáil chamber.

Sinn Féin has said the references were provided without clearance from the party and described the press officers’ actions as “unacceptable and wrong”.

McMonagle was first arrested in August 2021. Sinn Féin has said it suspended him as soon as he became aware of the police investigation.

However, he took up a position with the British Heart Foundation in September 2022. The charity has said it was not made aware that he was facing investigation.

Senior Sinn Féin member Conor Murphy has denied the party had any legal responsibility to make the charity aware of the investigation, saying it could not interfere with a police probe.

Taoiseach Simon Harris said it was an issue of child protection and added that he hoped Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald would answer “legitimate questions” on the matter.

Speaking in Dublin, Mr Harris said he did not want to play politics with the issue, but then called for the references provided by the press officers to be made available.

“The idea that any individual under investigation for sexual crimes against children would find themselves working in another organisation that has contact with children, without that organisation being aware, is deeply concerning,” he said.

“In addition to that, references being provided from a place of employment of the previous person, presumably references of positivity, which no-one has seen, and it would be helpful if we did see.”

He added: “This is not an issue in which people should get into pot-shots, it is far too serious for that, it is an issue in relation to how we protect children from sexual predators.

“I am sure that the leader of Sinn Féin (Mary Lou McDonald) will do the right thing on this in terms of answering very legitimate, important, fundamental questions about the protection of the most vulnerable people in society.”

In the Dail on Wednesday, Fine Gael TDs Ciaran Cannon and Colm Brophy called for Ms McDonald to make a statement in the House.

Mr Cannon said: “I am asking for time to be urgently set aside for Deputy McDonald to make a statement on the issue of child abuse committed by a member of Sinn Féin, and the furnishing of character references for that person by members of Deputy McDonald’s team.

“It’s crucial that these questions are answered in a timely fashion.”

During leaders’ questions in the Dáil, Ms McDonald raised long delays faced by children with scoliosis.

Mr Harris replied: “I am finding it hard to take a moralistic lecture on child protection from the leader of the opposition today of all days.

“You might come back to us on that. I can’t ask you a question in this House, but there is a function available to you in this House and you should use it because you should apply the same standards yourself as you apply to everybody else.”

McMonagle pleaded guilty to 14 offences of attempted sexual communication with a child and attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, at Derry Crown Court last month.

The offences dated between May 2020 and August 2021.

He will be sentenced in November.

The resignation of the two press officers emerged as Sinn Féin was holding its Ard Fheis in Athlone at the weekend.

Neither Mr Mag Uidhir nor Mr McGinley have made any comment.

Mr Mag Uidhir was a senior figure in the party’s organisation in Northern Ireland and often appeared at media events with senior leadership figures.