Assembly silent on key questions about McMonagle salary probe - including whether Sinn Fein had a veto

Michelle O'Neill's credibility as First Minister has been questioned in recent weeks over her claim to not have seen former employee Michael McMonagle standing yards from her at a Stormont event, after he had been suspended by the party amid a police investigation into child sex offences. The NI Assembly recently released details of his various jobs - including three months working for the then-deputy First Minister. However, in recent days, it has stopped responding to questions from the News Letter. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

The Northern Ireland Assembly has gone silent on key questions about its probe into the employment of a now-convicted child sex offender – including whether Sinn Fein had a veto over any investigation.

The scandal over Sinn Fein providing references for Michael McMonagle opened up a series of further questions about how he was employed when the News Letter revealed that he had worked for a number of Sinn Fein MLAs – including Michelle O’Neill – in their constituency offices.

Little over a week ago, it was believed that Michael McMonagle was employed by SF as a press officer. That’s how the party had described him – but the News Letter revealed he was working for both Michelle O’Neill and SF Westminster MP Órfhlaith Begley as well.

Yesterday, it emerged that another Sinn Fein press officer who – according to the party – didn’t tell anyone that he had provided a job reference for Michael McMonagle, was also working for Declan McAleer in a constituency office.

First Minister of Northern Ireland Michelle O'Neill and Sinn Fein's President Mary Lou McDonald have faced questions here and in the Republic over their handling of child safeguarding issues. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

Caolan McGinley was “employed in the last three years as a member of constituency office staff by Mr Declan McAleer” according to Assembly officials. They do not detail the exact periods of Mr McGinley’s employment. However, he was working as a press officer for Sinn Fein for longer than three years, and the party has repeatedly referred to him as such – not as constituency office staff. SF did not clarify the issue when asked.

Last week, the Northern Ireland Assembly said it was conducting a “detailed examination” to ensure that there has been compliance with its rules on salaries and expenses. The language carefully stopped short of using words like investigation or inquiry.

The Commission, which runs the Assembly, has representatives of Stormont’s five main parties – and crucially Sinn Fein have a veto on certain decisions. South Down MLA Sinead Ennis sits on the body for the party.

On Friday, the News Letter asked the Assembly what the terms of reference for the apparent probe are – and whether it will look into the Assembly's handling of salaries and expenses, political parties' handling of expenses and salaries - or both.

We also asked if the SF member of the Commission had a veto on proposals, and whether that had been used. However, the Assembly press office has not responded at all.

After initially providing quite a lot of detail on Michael McMonagle’s employment status – as well as details about the pass he had to access Stormont buildings, officials stopped responding late last week.

When this newspaper revealed that McMonagle had been triple-jobbing for the then-deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill, Órfhlaith Begley and Sinn Fein – we also reported that he had not declared his employment with Ms O’Neill (or Sinn Fein) to Westminster authorities. SF said that was his responsibility, not theirs.

Last Thursday, we asked Assembly officials if Michelle O'Neill had declared Michael McMonagle as an associated person – as required by Assembly rules – when she claimed for his staffing costs in 2020. At this point, the sort of information which had been forthcoming, stopped. SF also didn’t answer the question.

The scandal over Michael McMonagle has opened the party up to numerous questions about how its staff are employed.

Sinn Fein has been attempting in recent weeks to close the story down by placing all of the blame on two former press officers – Sean Mag Uidhir and Caolan McGinley – and an unnamed HR official.

The former spin doctors didn’t flag up to the British Heart Foundation (BHF) what McMonagle was accused of – and when the charity found out and queried the references, SF claim only an unnamed HR official was aware. Despite the gravity of the situation, this person apparently didn’t alert anyone else in the party.

The News Letter recently revealed that Monagle’s Stormont pass had never been revoked while he was employed by Sinn Fein MLA Jemma Dolan and officials weren’t informed about the police investigation. It’s not even clear when the Fermanagh MLA herself knew.

Last week, the NI Assembly told the News Letter: “A detailed examination is underway by officials to ensure that there has been compliance with the relevant Assembly Members’ (Salaries and Expenses) Determination (Northern Ireland).”

Michael McMonagle’s employment with both Michelle O’Neill and Órfhlaith Begley was before his arrest on suspicion of child sex offences. McMonagle, from Limewood Street in Londonderry last month admitted two charges of attempting to entice two children to engage in sexual activity and 12 charges of attempting to communicate with children for the purposes of sexual gratification.