First Minister Michelle O'Neill's position on whereabouts of paedophile Michael McMonagle is 'not credible' - MLA
The integrity and credibility of the First Minister is “in question” over her argument that she was not aware that a now-convicted paedophile was at the same event as her in Stormont after he was suspended – despite footage showing the pair just yards apart, the UUP’s Doug Beattie says.
Pressure is mounting on senior Sinn Fein politicians over their handling of events surrounding former press officer Michael McMonagle, who was recently convicted of child sex offences.
The party said they suspended him as soon as they became aware that he was being investigated by police. However, two other party press officers – Sean Mag Uidhir and Caolan McGinley – gave him a reference for a job in the British Heart Foundation (BHF), and did not alert the charity about the reasons for his suspension.
Michelle O’Neill has said she is “horrified” by the actions of the two press officers, who have since resigned.
At an event run by BHF in February 2023, Michelle O’Neill was stood just yards from Mr McMonagle. She said on Wednesday: “People have shown me in the past few days photographs of Michael McMonagle at a certain event, an event which I went to support the Donate4Daithi campaign. That’s the first I’ve seen of the individual since he left our employment”.
She added: “I was not aware that Michael McMonagle was at that event.”
Ulster Unionist justice spokesperson Doug Beattie says that the First Minister’s argument that she didn’t know what happened to a senior employee “is not credible”.
He told the News Letter: “The fallout from the McMonagle case is not just about Sinn Féin’s failure to ensure their safeguarding procedures are in place. Neither is it just a case of them not informing a future employer that an individual their party members had given a reference to was under police investigation and may not be suitable to work with or near children. Nor their lack of candour on this issue.
“One of the startling issues is that the credibility and integrity of our First Minister is now in question. To argue that you had no idea what happened to a senior employee, after his service was terminated due to charges of a child sexual nature, is not credible. To say you did not see that senior employee as he stood no more than 10 meters in front of you, indeed having no knowledge of his presence or his new role with children, undermines the First Minister’s integrity”.
The News Letter has asked Sinn Fein a series of questions on the McMonagle scandal which have gone unanswered, including:
- how is it credible that Michelle O'Neill had no interest in the whereabouts of a former colleague facing such serious charges?
- When Mr McMonagle was stood feet away from her in Parliament Buildings does Ms O’Neill expect the public to believe that she did not see him?
- Does the First Minister accept that, given she is at odds with child safeguarding experts on this issue, that she is creating confusion around the matter - and would she like to clarify to the public and employers that there was nothing preventing Sinn Fein from alerting the BHF?
- Would Michelle O'Neill like to retract or revise her claim that “all the correct action” was taken by her?