Sinn Féin is under renewed pressure to clarify when senior figures learned that party officials had provided references for a former employee who was then under police investigation and was later convicted of child sex offences.
On Sunday, Taoiseach Simon Harris described as “deeply worrying” the revelation that two former Sinn Féin press officers provided references for a former colleague, Michael McMonagle (42), from Limewood Street, Derry, who was convicted last month for a series of sexual offences, including attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.
McMonagle had sought employment with the British Heart Foundation (BHF), which was not made aware by Sinn Féin of the charges he faced. The party’s Northern leader, Michelle O’Neill, has said she only became aware of the references at the time of the conviction.
However, on Saturday, it emerged that the BHF contacted Sinn Féin in August 2023 as part of a review by the charity of its recruitment processes when it was made aware of the charges against McMonagle.
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Ms O’Neill has said she learnt last Thursday that in August 2023, “following media reports of charges against McMonagle” that the BHF had contacted Sinn Féin’s “former HR manager” about the references.
“Somebody who actually carried out a sexual crime against a child was moved from a political party to a charity, and that move was facilitated by employer references provided by that party,” Mr Harris said on Sunday.
“There seems to be some sort of vow of omerta taken in terms of properly discussing this issue,” he said.
When contacted on Sunday, a Sinn Féin spokesman said it was making no comment at this moment in time.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin also said at the weekend that Sinn Féin’s leadership had questions to answer over the way it has addressed the issue.
“I think the leadership of Sinn Féin should clarify the position who, what and when and so forth,” he told reporters at his party’s Cairde Fáil dinner in Dublin.
“At the moment it is revelation after revelation.”
In his speech at the event, Mr Martin accused Sinn Féin of running away from the media as soon as the questions got difficult.
“I don’t believe that any other party on this island would behave in the same way that Sinn Féin has in the face of profoundly serious questions about a former employee charged with terrible crimes.”
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald is expected to be challenged about the way in which the party handled the matter and to clarify the extent of knowledge of the party’s senior figures.
The Dublin Fine Gael MEP Regina Doherty said on Sunday it was not credible that three senior employees of the party did not tell anyone about their contacts with the BHF in relation to McMonagle.
In a statement on Saturday, Ms O’Neill, who is also the North’s First Minister, apologised on behalf of Sinn Féin for the “hurt and distress” caused.
“Sinn Féin will be issuing instructions to all managers and members of staff regarding future requests for character references,” Ms O’Neill said.
“As a political leader and a mother, I want to be clear that the issue of child safeguarding is of paramount importance to me. The Sinn Féin leadership and I will ensure that a situation like this will never arise again.”
Ms O’Neill issued the statement following a telephone call on Saturday with the head of the BHF in Northern Ireland, Fearghal McKinney.
Mr McKinney said he outlined to Ms O’Neill “the processes the British Heart Foundation undertook in hiring this individual, determining his suitability for employment including full reference checks, and the robust internal investigation we undertook after learning of the serious charges against him.
“Michelle O’Neill agreed recent comments by her and party colleagues questioning the BHF’s due diligence process were unhelpful, and she expressed regret for the damage and upset this has caused to our dedicated staff and supporters,” Mr McKinney said.
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