O'Neill 'aghast' at SF staff references for colleague

Sinn Féin's Stormont leader Michelle O'Neill has said she was "aghast" when she learned two colleagues had provided job references for a former party press officer who was under investigation for child sex offences.

Seán Mag Uidhir and Caolán McGinley resigned from the party at the weekend when it emerged they had supplied references for Michael McMonagle.

Mr Mag Uidhir was head of Sinn Féin's Stormont press operation and a key party strategist.

Last week, Mr McMonagle pleaded guilty to child sex offences including attempted sexual communication with a child.

He is awaiting sentence.

The Taoiseach said Sinn Féin has legitimate questions to answer over how the affair was handled.

Simon Harris said: "This is not an issue in which people should get into pot shots, it's far too serious for that.

"It is an issue in relation to how we protect children from sexual predators and I'm sure that the leader of Sinn Féin 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."

Mr McMonagle, a former press officer, was suspended from the party when it was discovered he was the subject of a PSNI investigation.

It was during this time that he asked his two former colleagues for help with a reference as he looked for other work.

They provided it and he went on to get a job with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) - a UK-based charity with a branch in Northern Ireland.

The BHF has confirmed that the references it received made no mention of the police investigation or his suspension from the party.

Sinn Féin said it only discovered that Mr Mag Uidhir and Mr McGinley had supplied the references last week.

It said it had been done without clearance from the party and permission would not have been given had it been requested.

It began an internal process but both men resigned their jobs and their party membership before it could be concluded.

There has been criticism of Ms O'Neill who attended an event at Stormont which Mr McGonagle also attended in his new role with the BHF.

Questions have been asked about why she did not alert the charity.

Speaking at a Stormont committee today, Ms O'Neill said: "I attended an event in this building as many of you would have attended because of my support for the campaign.

"I engaged with the family that day not with anyone who may have been accompanying the British Heart Foundation.

"I'm very confident that whenever we were aware of what we knew of the fact that a criminal investigation was under way that that then became a matter for the police and the criminal justice system to deal with."

She later said she had not been aware that Mr McMonagle had been at the Stormont event.