Michelle O’Neill has not spoken to Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly about the Michael McMonagle controversy, the first minster said on Monday.
The Sinn Féin deputy leader, who faced questions in the assembly about the affair that has dogged her party for past week,, said the joint Stormont leaders hadn’t discussed the matter “at this stage”.
Ms Little-Pengelly had earlier said there were “serious questions for Sinn Féin to answer” about how the party’s former press officer had gone on to work for a charity while being investigated for sexual offences.
The 42-year-old, from Limewood Street in Derry, last month admitted to a series of offences, including trying to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.
“There are serious questions about the current situation that have to be answered and as leaders we have to be honest and we have to be credible, and I think very many people out there will feel it has simply not been credible thus far and therefore I urge the people involved to be open and honest and credible on this matter,” the Lagan Valley MLA said.
The deputy first minister said that she wanted to distance herself from attempts to “put the blame on other organisations”.
“I also would want to put on record that I want to distance myself from any comments in relation to trying to put the blame of this on to other organisations, particularly the charity involved in this, the British Heart Foundation,” she said.
Last week, Ms O’Neill and Economy Minister Conor Murphy criticised the charity for its failure to carry out “due diligence” when recruiting McMonagle.
The Sinn Féin first minister, who said she welcomed the opportunity to set the record straight, apologised to the British Heart Foundation.
“I am deeply sorry for the reputational damage caused to the British Heart Foundation,” she said.
“I regret that this has happened, and I apologise for this.”
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said that in response to the latest safeguarding controversy she had ordered a “complete overhaul of governance procedures within the party”.
“I will ensure that there are clear processes so that there are no grey areas whatsoever where an individual has been suspended or ends their employment with Sinn Féin, to ensure that there are no future issues in relation to handing back work passes and to make absolutely clear that references cannot be provided by individual members of staff,” she said.
Ms McDonald also said she regretted that the British Heart Foundation had “been caught up in an issue, not of their making”.
In the assembly, Ms O’Neill asked that the record of last Wednesday’s Executive Office committee meeting be “corrected” after footage emerged of her talking to British Heart Foundation chief executive Fearghal McKinney in Stormont’s Great Hall last February.
The first minister told committee members that she had no contact with anyone from the charity, even though photographs showed her a matter of feet away from McMonagle, a former Sinn Féin press officer whose employment with the party had been terminated nine months previous after he informed the party he was under police investigation for sex offences.
It emerged on Monday that McMonagle worked for Ms O’Neill for two months in 2020, a year before his arrest, before being employed by Fermanagh-South Tyrone MLA Jemma Dolan up until he left the party in July 2022.
Two of his former colleagues, Séan Mag Uidhir and Caolán McGinley, provided references for McGonagle as he sought a new job with the British Heart Foundation.
The pair resigned from Sinn Féin at the end of last month in the midst of an internal inquiry into their conduct.It emerged at the weekend that the charity contacted Sinn Féin’s then human resources manager in August 2023, after McMonagle was charged, to verify the references but Ms O’Neill said this information was not passed to her or any other senior party members.
Answering a series of urgent questions from MLAs, Ms O’Neill said she accepted that footage from February 2023 in Stormont’s Great Hall showing her in proximity to McMonagle “from that angle... looks perhaps that I should have seen him”. However, she remains adamant that she did not not see or engage with the British Heart Foundation communications and engagement officer.
“I did not see Michael McMonagle that day. I would not stand here and make that statement if it were not true,” she said
The Sinn Féin deputy leader was asked twice if she would return to the Executive Office committee for questioning on the matter but she failed to commit to a further appearance, saying she would speak to committee chair Paula Bradshaw, one of the two MLAs who quizzed her about a further appearance for questioning.
Ms O’Neill revealed that the as yet unnamed former HR manager who failed to pass the information about the references and was involved in the initial process that saw McMonagle’s employment terminated, remained a member of Sinn Féin.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin said Sinn Fein and its leader had “profoundly serious questions to answer”.
“There’s an obligation on the party and Mary Lou McDonald to clarify who knew what, when, and how this extraordinary course of events unfolded,” he said.
The Fianna Fáil leader said the British Heart Foundation “clearly feel badly let down by Sinn Féin’s actions”.
