Michelle O’Neill has confirmed for the first time that she personally knew of the reasons behind Niall Ó Donnghaile’s suspension from Sinn Féin.
Up until the first minister’s appearance in the assembly on Monday, where she answered questions on behalf of the Executive Office, Sinn Féin would only say that the party “leadership was made aware” of the background to the former Belfast mayor’s suspension and subsequent decision to quit last December.
Last week the Sinn Féin deputy leader consistently referred to “we” when speaking about the matter and did not specify what she personally knew.
Ms O’Neill appeared to clear up any confusion in the assembly, telling MLAs that Mr Ó Donnghaile was suspended from the party on September 13 last year after it was learned he’d sent inappropriate texts to a teenager.
“At this point, I was made aware,” the Sinn Féin deputy leader said.
Meanwhile, the first minister is said to have “doubled down” on the claim that the teenage complainant against Sinn Féin’s former Senead leader was aged 17.
Her party leader Mary Lou McDonald has confirmed she will correct the Dáil record after the teenager said in the Sunday Independent that he was 16 at the time the texts were sent.
“It is very important that the record of the Dáil is accurate, so of course it will be corrected,” Ms McDonald said.
In the assembly, DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley asked Ms O’Neill for “the purpose of clarity” to tell MLAs the age of the teenager when the texts were sent.
The first minister again said “all child protection protocols were followed” and she apologised for what she termed Mr Ó Donnghaile’s “unacceptable behaviour”.
“Also, I can confirm that, according to our records, the young person was, in fact, 17,” she said.
“That’s the records which we have in our files in terms of membership.”
Mr Buckley subsequently told The Irish News that “rather than answer the specific questions asked”, Ms O’Neill had “simply read out extracts of the statement given by Mary Lou McDonald”.
“She also doubled down on the claim that the complainant in the Niall Ó'Donnghaile case was 17 when he has said himself that he was 16 when the messages were sent,” the Upper Bann MLA said.
“This appears to be a case of Sinn Féin trying to contradict a victim in terms of his own age. As with so many other issues in recent days, the truth will undoubtedly be uncovered.”
SDLP MLA Sinéad McLaughlin welcomed the first minister’s confirmation that “she was aware of the circumstances” around Mr Ó Donnghaile’s suspension.
“But I question her decision to continue to attest the youth in this case was 17-years-old when her party president Mary Lou McDonald has accepted otherwise and will correct the Dáil record,” the Foyle MLA said.
She said Ms O’Neill also needed to correct the assembly record.
