SF press officers resign over references for colleague

Two Sinn Féin press officers have resigned after providing employment references for a party colleague who was under investigation for child sex offences.

Seán Mag Uidhir and Caolán McGinley - both part of the Stormont press team - stepped down at the weekend after the party began an internal process.

They had provided references for former Sinn Féin press officer Michael McMonagle for a job in the charity sector.

Last week, McMonagle pleaded guilty to 14 offences of attempted sexual communication with a child and attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

McMonagle, who is 42 and from Limewood Street in Derry, was suspended by the party after his arrest.

The offences dated between May 2020 and August 2021.

Sinn Féin said the job references were provided three months after his arrest and while he was under police investigation.

A spokesperson said the references had not been provided on behalf of Sinn Féin and had not been cleared with it. Had permission been sought, it would not have been given.

Sinn Féin said it had only become aware of the references last week and it began an internal process.

Both men had resigned before the conclusion of that process.

Mr Mag Uidhir was a senior figure in the party's northern organisation.

At one time he worked for the republican newspaper An Phoblacht.

Neither man has made any public comment.

The charity which employed the former Sinn Féin press officer after he was suspended from the party confirmed that neither of the employment references it received from his party colleagues mentioned the fact that he was under investigation for sex offences or that he had been suspended from Sinn Féin.

The British Heart Foundation said it had employed McMonagle in a media role in Northern Ireland from September 2022 until it learned of the case against him the following year.

It confirmed that employment references supplied by the head of Sinn Féin's Stormont media operation, Seán Mag Uidhir and press officer Caolán McGinley had made no mention of the police investigation.

"The individual took up his position in September 2022 following the provision of two professional references - neither of which raised a concern about his suitability for employment or referenced an ongoing police investigation or suspension from his previous employment.

"We were first made aware of the arrest of and subsequent criminal charges against the individual on Saturday 29 July 2023 and we suspended him as soon as possible on Monday 31 July 2023. As of 17 August 2023 he no longer worked for the BHF following a thorough internal investigation," a spokesperson for the charity said.