Portrait of Ó Donnghaile removed from City Hall

Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O’Neill has said she thinks it is appropriate that a portrait of disgraced former Sinn Féin Mayor of Belfast, Niall Ó Donnghaile, be removed from Belfast City Hall, but tensions have continued in the wake of scandals to beset the party.

The portrait was removed after a motion at the council following Ó Donnghaile’s admission that he left Sinn Féin last year after sending inappropriate text messages to a teenager.

Sinn Féin referred that matter to the PSNI and social services last September, but no criminal investigation was undertaken.

The removal of the portrait represents a fall from grace for a Sinn Féin favourite. From a prominent republican family, Ó Donnghaile went directly from college to work in the Sinn Féin press office at Stormont before gaining a council seat for the party in the east of the city in the 2011 elections.

He became the youngest ever Mayor of Belfast, at age 26, and like all who hold that office, had an official portrait painted and displayed to mark his year in the role. He later went on to be made a Senator in the Dublin parliament.

But it has now emerged that he sent a number of “inappropriate” text messages to a 16-year-old child, among others. Sinn Féin leaders have faced questions over their support for Ó Donnghaile.

It has followed a separate controversy over another former Sinn Féin press officer, Michael McMonagle, who admitted child sex offences earlier this year, and two other former party press officers, who admitted providing McMonagle with employment references.

Sinn Féin has now said it had accepts the child targeted by Ó Donnghaile was aged 16 at the time, and has expressed its apologies to the boy and his mother.

Speaking to media in Belfast, First Minister Ms O’Neill said Ó Donnghaile’s behaviour was “completely inappropriate” and there was “no issue whatsoever” in backing the removal of the portrait.

In response to criticisms over the party paying tribute to Mr Ó Donnghaile when he left, as well as claiming he left for health reasons, Ms O’Neill made a statement in tandem with one by Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald in the Dáil.

The First Minister said that her understanding that the teenager had been 17 years old had been “wrong”.

“I’m absolutely so sorry for the hurt caused by the statement issued after his resignation,” she said.

She also addressed an incident over the weekend during which the portrait of former unionist Mayor Wallace Browne was damaged at City Hall, metres from where the painting of Ó Donnghaile had been removed.

She said an employee and Sinn Féin member who admitted his role in the incident resigned from both his job and party membership as a result.

But there were heated scenes as unionists fired questions at her in a subsequent ‘scrutiny’ Executive committee meeting at Stormont.

Ms O’Neill said she was “genuinely trying to be as open and transparent and as helpful to members as I possibly can” and that she was “happy to answer any genuine issues as First Minister”.

However, she refused to answer a series of questions on the recent controversies, describing them as party political and unrelated to the actions of the Executive.

The meeting eventually broke up in chaos, wth fellow Sinn Féin Assembly member Carál Ní Chuilín criticising unionist for treating the committee as a “political football”.

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