Sinn Fein’s Conor Murphy has said the party only became aware on Wednesday that two of its press officers wrote job references for a former colleague who was facing paedophile charges.
Michael McMonagle, who is a former Sinn Fein press officer himself, pleaded guilty to 14 charges of child sex abuse last month at Londonderry Crown Court.
The 42-year-old of Limewood Street in Derry admitted committing the offences on various dates between May 2020 and August 2021.
After his arrest, McMonagle was suspended by Sinn Fein in 2021.
However, it has emerged that Seán Mag Uidhir, Sinn Fein’s longstanding chief press officer, and Caolán McGinley both wrote job references for McMonagle in an application for a role in the British Heart Foundation.
The charity confirmed to the Belfast Telegraph that neither of those references had alerted it to the reason why McMonagle had left Sinn Fein’s employment.
Both Seán Mag Uidhir and Caolán McGinley quit Sinn Fein after the party launched an investigation into the job references.
Speaking to Cool FM on Tuesday, Finance Minister Mr Murphy said “it became apparent last Wednesday” when asked when Sinn Fein learned of the references.
“That’s the first we knew that any references had been given,” he added.
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“The person involved had been suspended as soon as we knew he was arrested back in 2021. We had no further dealings with him after that.
“But we were not aware until last Wednesday that references had been given to support a job application.
“Those were not cleared by the party and would not have been cleared by the party.
“We initiated disciplinary proceedings against the people involved and they took a decision to resign on Saturday.”
In a statement last week, Sinn Fein said it was “unacceptable and wrong” that those job references were provided for McMonagle.
“Following this inquiry, Sinn Féin was made aware that, three months after his employment ended, two former work colleagues were asked for work references in relation to their assessment of Michael McMonagle’s work as a press officer,” said a spokesperson.
“Both provided these references without clearance from Sinn Féin. This was unacceptable and wrong.”
The Sinn Fein spokesperson said the references were “not provided by, or on behalf of Sinn Féin”.
“Permission was not sought, nor would it have been given from the party for the provision of these references or their content.
“In view of the serious nature of this revelation, Sinn Féin undertook an immediate internal process.
“Before this process concluded, both press officers resigned from their positions and party membership with immediate effect.”
News Catch Up – Tuesday 1st October