Sinn Féin to undergo ‘complete overhaul’

Sinn Féin Leader Mary Lou McDonald has said she has ordered “a complete overhaul of governance procedures” for the party after it provided references for former party press officer Michael McMonagle, who has admitted a number of child sex offences.

Ms McDonald issued a statement on Monday amid a controversy over how party officials failed to fallout from the serious charges brought against McMonagle and instead incredibly lent their support for him to secure employment with a prominent local charity, the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

Mc Monagle admitted a series of offences, including attempted sexual communication with a child and attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, after allegedly coming to the attention of independent paedophile hunters.

One of those who wrote a reference for McMonagle was Sean Mag Uidhir, a senior party official who previously worked for the Belfast Media group, which owns the Andersonstown News. Another referenece came from another press officer, Caolán McGinley.

Both of the press officers have now resigned and quit the party. None of those involved, including a still unnamed former HR director, have offered an explanation for their actions.

The embarrasing controversy has provided political capital for Sinn Féin’s opponents in the teeth of an election in the 26 Counties, and has reignited decades-old questions over the party’s lax internal administration.

Among his other posts for Sinn Féin, McMonagle was directly employed by Sinn Féin’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill for a three-month period in 2020, and then by party Assembly member Jemma Dolan for two years. He held a Stormont security pass, sponsored by party Assembly member Philip McGuigan, until last week.

The question of paedophiles operating at a high level at Stormont has recalled for republicans MI5's disturbing manipulation of Denis Donaldson, Sinn Féin’s top administrator at Stormont who was exposed as an informer in 2005 before he was killed in a gun attack at a remote cottage in Donegal by unknown assailants a year later. It subsequently emerged he had been recruited by MI5 in the mid-1980s as the result of a ‘paedophile honey trap’.

Despite some difficult questions at Stormont, many of which remain unanswered, the DUP has opted not to push the matter due to their embarrassment over an even greater child sex abuse scandal involving their former leader, Jefrey Donaldson, who is currently before the court on charges of past child sex abuse.

Speaking on Irish radio, Ms McDonald said that she was “disgusted and furious” at the actions of two former party press officers, an action she described as “unforgivable”, but claimed the party “has strong HR processes”.

However, in a statement later on Monday, Ms McDonald said she sought a “complete overhaul of governance procedures” for the party.

She said: “We will do everything necessary to ensure that an incident like this never arises again. The General Secretary will take external professional advice in this work.”

She said: “I deeply regret that the British Heart Foundation has been caught up in an issue, not of their making.

“I apologise for the distress that has been caused by these events. I am committed to ensuring that an incident like this is never repeated again.”

Michelle O’Neill also said she is “deeply sorry” for the reputational damage caused to a charity during the fallout of how Sinn Féin dealt with McMonagle.

Speaking in the assembly on Monday afternoon, Ms O’Neill said she is “absolutely and totally committed to ensuring that the strongest and most robust child protection and safeguarding processes and policies are in place”.

“As a mother and a grandmother, I assert my absolute determination, both political and personal, to protect all children,” she said.

She added: “The issues that have arisen over recent days result primarily from the actions of two former press officers, who have now resigned from their employment and Sinn Féin.”

Last week, Ms O’Neill was criticised when she said there were lessons for people in terms of “due diligence for an employer when they take on an employee”, an apparent attempt to pass blame to the BHF.

Ms O’Neill has also faced a controversy this week over using public funds to fly an assistant out to Portugal where she was on holiday,

Sinn Féin has also been grappling with the announcement of the resignation of its Kildare South TD, Patricia Ryan, as part of an unrelated constituency-level dispute.

Political commentator Suzanne Breen said Michelle O’Neill’s credibility has been damaged by the revelations.

Despite the torrid time, Ms Breen she believed there would be no permanent damage to the party, at least north of the border, where an election is not due to held for another three years.

She wrote: “It has been a difficult 10 days for Sinn Féin but, unless new information comes to light, the signs are that it is through the worst of it.”

Urgent Appeal