Michelle O’Neill says she has been made aware of another incident involving Michael McMonagle, in which the former Sinn Fein press officer made a female colleague “feel uncomfortable”.
The First Minister has been scrutinised this week amid a growing scandal around how McMonagle, who is currently suspected of child sex offences, got a job with a charity.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday afternoon, Ms O’Neill made a lengthy statement, condemning McMonagle’s “utterly reprehensible” actions, and stating that “he is being held fully accountable under the law”.
The Mid Ulster MLA went on to say that “for the purpose of completeness, during the course of discussions with staff over the last week, I have also been made aware of an unrelated issue with an adult female colleague of Michael McMonagle at a non-work related social gathering a number of years ago”.
“This was in no way related to any child protection issue and related to him making the female colleague feel uncomfortable,” she continued,
“This was resolved by mutual agreement between them at the time.”
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Earlier this week, the Sinn Fein vice president denied knowing that McMonagle had taken a job with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) – despite being photographed standing several feet from him at a charity event in Stormont in early 2023.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson earlier called for the First Minister to make a statement to the Assembly on the affair. He said it was time for “full transparency” from Sinn Fein.
Last month, McMonagle (42), from Limewood Street, Londonderry, admitted a series of offences, including attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.
The former press aide was first arrested in August 2021. Sinn Fein has said it suspended him as soon as it became aware of the police investigation. McMonagle took up a position with the BHF in September 2022.
Yesterday the party admitted it failed to return McMonagle’s Stormont security pass. It was only handed back this week – with Sinn Fein acknowledging it should have been revoked when he was suspended.
Ms O’Neill has also repeated her “anger and disgust” that two party press officers had sent references to the British Heart Foundation for Michael McMonagle.
It came as the charity revealed that, in August 2023, it made contact with a senior Sinn Fein HR official and informed them that it had two references from the party.
That raises awkward questions after several senior Sinn Fein figures insisted the party only became aware of the references in recent days.
Also speaking this afternoon, Ms O’Neill said the Sinn Fein leadership had been unaware of the contact until this week, branding it a “serious omission”.
Sinn Féin struggles with questions over how party dealt with child sex offender
