Pressure on O'Neill as SF deals with McMonagle case

Wednesday 2 October at 5pm and Sinn Féin First Minister Michelle O'Neill is setting out an announcement, that at any other time would have guaranteed her positive coverage.

People had waited for years for confirmation that the Executive would proceed with a huge road scheme through Co Tyrone and Co Derry, which would improve safety and economic activity.

But Ms O’Neill spent as much time fielding questions over her party’s handling of the case of Michael McMonagle as on the £1 billion road.

Mr McMonagle, who has admitted a string of sex offences, including attempted sexual communication with children and attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, was a former senior party press officer - someone many in Sinn Féin would have known.

The Irish News the following morning led with the road story, but it was vying for space with another which had heaped further pressure on Ms O’Neill.

Pictures had emerged that showed her at a Stormont event in February 2023, one also attended by Michael McMonagle.

He had been suspended from Sinn Féin, then left the party to take up new employment as a communications officer for the British Heart Foundation (BHF). He attended in that role.

Ms O’Neill said she had not been aware he was there. The pictures showed them standing just metres apart.

It has been a tricky seven days for Sinn Féin since this issue erupted last weekend.

A focus on Tuesday’s budget and the escalating conflict in the Middle East probably meant the story did not initially get the traction it might otherwise have done, especially with an election looming.

However, it had not gone unnoticed by the Taoiseach. On Wednesday, Simon Harris said Sinn Féin had legitimate questions to answer.

Two days later he was saying it could not keep ducking the questions he believed they ought to answer.

The Tánaiste also rowed in, Micheál Martin saying he found it "extraordinary" that Sinn Féin had not alerted the BHF.

'Deafening silence'

Minister for State Jennifer Carroll MacNeill doubled down on Friday, issuing a statement accusing party president Mary Lou McDonald of "deafening silence" and calling on her to publicly address a series of questions.

All of this came out of nowhere last weekend when two Sinn Féin officials were named as having provided job references for Michael McMonagle, which allowed him to get that charity job.

One of them, Seán Mag Uidhir, had been a key strategist with the ear of the party leadership.

Sinn Féin said neither man had cleared the references with the party, and it had been gross misconduct. MS O’Neill said she was "aghast" they had done it, and they had been swiftly dealt with.

They resigned from their jobs and from the party on the Saturday of its annual conference.

The BHF confirmed that neither reference had mentioned Mr McMonagle’s suspension from the party, nor that he was under investigation by the police.

Stormont’s Finance Minister Conor Murphy was first to speak to the media on Sinn Féin’s behalf.

In a testy exchange with BBC Northern Ireland, he was asked whether party had had a moral obligation to tell Mr McMonagle’s new employer what it knew about him.

He seemed to push the onus back on the charity saying every organisation had a responsibility to do due diligence on new employees.

The BHF had followed protocol by taking up the references - but those references had not been accurate.

Mr Murphy said the party’s obligations ended when Mr McMonagle left its employment, after that it was a matter purely for the police.

"We are not involved in the investigation. We are not involved in advising anyone in relation to the investigation. That is a matter for the police. To do anything in relation to that could potentially be prejudicial."

That was Tuesday, budget day in Dublin.

On Thursday, the PSNI chief constable was at a public meeting of Northern Ireland’s policing board.

He had been speaking at a conference the night before and was open with board members that he had come late to the issue and did not know much about it.

It had all happened before he was appointed last year.

But he was well aware of the political sensitivities in play. When asked about it initially by the DUP’s Trevor Clarke he prefaced his remarks by saying he did not want to be drawn into a "political tit-for-tat".

However, then he said he did not see how Sinn Féin passing on what it knew about Mr McMonagle to the BHF could have impeded the police investigation into his offences.

"If the question is would that prejudice the investigation the answer is - and I don’t know the detail - I don’t see how it could prejudice it."

Piled more pressure on

That intervention contradicted the Sinn Féin position and piled more pressure on it.

People pointed out that the party had found itself in difficult positions over child safeguarding issues in the past.

In 2014 former party president Gerry Adams had apologised in the Dáil for the way the IRA had dealt with abuse cases.

It had been accused of showing more interest in protecting the republican movement than children who’d been targeted by abusers in its ranks.

Two new statements, one each from Sinn Féin and the BHF landed in journalists’ inboxes yesterday.

They set out comprehensive timelines from the perspective of both organisations.

And one contained a nugget that gave fresh impetus to the story.

The BHF had been stung by the implied criticism of its recruitment protocols earlier in the week, something it described as "unhelpful".

In a two-page statement it set out in detail the steps it had taken.

It included the information that in August 2023, just days after it became aware that Mr McMonagle had been charged and had suspended him, it carried out a review of his recruitment.

'Serious omissions'

As part of that, it had contacted a senior official within Sinn Féin and shared with them that it had two references from people within the party.

That was 14 months ago.

Ms O’Neill confirmed that the charity had reached out to the party in 2023.

"This contact from the BHF was not brought to my attention, or the attention of the Sinn Féin leadership, at that time.

"This was a serious omission," she said.

All week politicians had been lining up to call for greater clarity.

Stormont’s Justice Minister Naomi Long said the party should reflect on whether its actions had been "appropriate".

DUP leader Gavin Robinson accused the party of trying to "shut down" questions about it all.

Sinn Féin had three main press officers who dealt with Belfast-based journalists.

Two of them were the officials who provided the Michael McMonagle references.

They have resigned from their positions and from the party.

It must have impacted the party’s capacity to deal with a slew of media queries.

It seems those queries are going to keep coming.