Sinn Fein admit ‘serious omission’ over paedo press officer scandal

Sinn Féin has acknowledged their errors in managing the scandal involving a press officer accused of child abuse. This comes after the British Heart Foundation announced that they reached out to the party following McMonagle's court appearance.

Yesterday, Sinn Féin acknowledged a significant oversight regarding its management of the scandal involving a press officer accused of paedophilia.

Earlier this week, Conor Murphy, a minister from Sinn Féin, stated that his party only discovered last week, after inquiries from the Sunday World, that two high-ranking members had given recommendations for Michael McMonagle, a former press officer for Sinn Féin.

It was disclosed yesterday that the British Heart Foundation (BHF) had reached out to Sinn Féin for references regarding McMonagle in August 2023, following his court appearance. McMonagle had joined the BHF in 2022 after departing from Sinn Féin, even though he was being investigated by the police for child sex offenses.

It was the most recent development in the political turmoil that has surrounded Sinn Féin over the past week.

Last month, McMonagle, 42, who had been with Sinn Féin since 2014, confessed to multiple charges related to child sexual abuse.

The man from Derry was taken into custody in August 2021 and was promptly removed from his position and membership in Sinn Féin.

He finished his job with Sinn Féin in June 2022 and then landed a position as a Communications and Engagement Manager at the BHF three months later.

Last weekend, the Sunday World reported that the BHF had received two recommendations for McMonagle from former members of Sinn Féin's press team, Seán Mag Uidhir and Caolán McGinley.

Neither of the sources touched on McMonagle's arrest or the police inquiry regarding his supposed offenses at that time.

When reached out to by the Sunday World last week, Sinn Féin stated that they were not aware of the comments made by Mag Uidhir and McGinley.

The party stated that no request for approval had been made regarding the references, and that such permission would not have been granted if it had been.

Sinn Féin deemed the comments as "inappropriate and incorrect."

This week, when the controversy was brought up, both Mr. Murphy and Sinn Féin First Minister Michelle O’Neill raised questions about the BHF’s thoroughness in their hiring of McMonagle.

The leader of the British Heart Foundation, Fearghal McKinney

The BHF’s leader in Northern Ireland, former SDLP MLA Fearghal McKinney, had a phone conversation with Ms. O’Neill yesterday morning.

Later, Mr. McKinney stated that the First Minister had acknowledged the harm and distress that the controversy had caused.

In our phone conversation, I explained to Michelle O'Neill how the British Heart Foundation went about hiring this person. I detailed the steps we took to assess his appropriateness for the job, which included thorough reference checks and a comprehensive internal investigation we conducted upon discovering the serious allegations against him.

Michelle O’Neill acknowledged that her recent remarks, along with those of her party members, regarding the BHF’s thoroughness were not constructive. She also expressed her regret for the negative impact this has had on our hardworking staff and supporters.

Mr. McKinney stated that the BHF was sure it fulfilled all the essential legal and ethical responsibilities needed during this whole process.

In a statement released yesterday afternoon, Ms. O'Neill expressed her heartfelt regrets regarding the effect that the controversy has had on the BHF.

On Thursday this week, I found out that in August 2023, after media stories emerged about charges against McMonagle, the British Heart Foundation reached out to Sinn Féin’s former HR Manager. They wanted to confirm the email address and identity of the senior press officer who had given a reference the year before, and the HR Manager provided that information.

"I wasn't made aware of this communication from the British Heart Foundation, nor was the Sinn Féin leadership informed about it back then."

Ms. O'Neill stated, "This was a significant oversight."

This morning, I had a conversation with Fearghal McKinney, the leader of the British Heart Foundation in Northern Ireland, to talk about this issue.

"This is a group that does excellent work in offering support, conducting research, and advocating for important causes. I sincerely regret that they have found themselves in this troubling situation."

Seán Mag Uidhir, on the right, capturing footage of Michelle O’Neill and Mary Lou McDonald at a press conference held at Stormont.

The First Minister announced that Sinn Féin will be providing guidance to all supervisors and employees about how to handle future requests for character references.

"As both a political leader and a mother, I want to emphasize that ensuring the safety of children is incredibly important to me," she stated.

"The leadership of Sinn Féin and I are committed to preventing a situation like this from happening again."

In her comments, Ms. O'Neill shared information regarding a complaint filed by a female employee of Sinn Féin concerning McMonagle during his time with the party.

It was about an event that took place at a social gathering not connected to work a few years back.

"This had nothing to do with child protection concerns; it was about him making a female colleague feel uneasy."

"This was settled through a shared understanding between them back then," Ms. O'Neill stated.

Although prominent members of Sinn Féin have stood by the party's management of the Michael McMonagle issue, there is mounting pressure on its leadership to disclose everything they know regarding the scandal.

This topic is likely to continue to be a major focus in political discussions this week at both the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Dáil.

In the meantime, the Sunday World has revealed additional disturbing information about McMonagle and his heinous acts.

We can disclose that he posted online content regarding sex offenders prior to becoming one himself.

During his time as a journalist in 2014, McMonagle posted several tweets concerning sex offenders.

In April 2023, while serving as a journalist for the Derry Journal, McMonagle tweeted several articles about sex offenders who were being brought to court.

The reports covered incidents involving a man who indecently exposed himself to a young girl, another man who was charged with sexually assaulting his partner, and a registered sex offender who violated a court mandate.

A couple of weeks after publishing the articles, McMonagle departed from the Derry Journal and took on a new role as a press officer for Sinn Féin.

He stayed in that position, allowing him to have regular interactions with the leaders of Sinn Féin, until his arrest on August 19, 2021.

He was interrogated regarding claims of inappropriate sexual communication with minors that took place from May 2020 until the day before he was taken into custody.

On August 20, 2021, McMonagle informed Sinn Féin about his arrest, and the party responded by suspending him right away.

After his suspension, McMonagle resigned from his position with Sinn Féin in June 2022.

In August 2022, as the police looked into his supposed offenses, he sought employment with the BHF.

In his application, McMonagle listed the names of two of his former colleagues from Sinn Féin as references.

McMonagle faced charges related to child sexual offenses and made his initial court appearance in August 2023.

After maintaining his innocence since being taken into custody, McMonagle admitted to the charges at Derry Crown Court just last week.

He was let out on bail and is scheduled to be sentenced next month.