Sinn Féin aware of McMonagle references a year ago

Sinn Féin knew about job references two party members had given for a former press officer under investigation for child sex offences a year ago, it has emerged.

The British Heart Foundation (BHF), which employed Michael McMonagle, contacted the party in August 2023, when news broke that he had had been charged.

Sinn Féin said the senior official contacted was asked to confirm the identity and the email address of the senior strategist who had provided one of the two references.

This was done but the request was not flagged to the party leadership.

Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill said today that this was a "serious omission".

It is already been reported that the two references provided did not mention that Mr McMonagle had been suspended from the party or was under police investigation at that time.

Both party members who provided the references have since resigned.

The revelation will put further pressure on the party which has been criticised for not telling the BHF that Mr McMonagle - the person it planned to appoint as its communication and engagement manager - had, by August 2021, been suspended by the party and was under police investigation.

The head of the BHF contacted the Ms O'Neill about "unhelpful" comments she made in recent days about the recruitment process.

Fearghal McKinney of BHF Northern Ireland spoke to her by phone this morning.

He said he had raised with the Sinn Féin vice president comments in which she appeared to question the "due diligence" undertaken by the charity in its recruitment process.

Mr McMonagle, a former senior Sinn Féin press officer, got a job with the foundation in September 2022 on the strength of two employment references received from former colleagues in that party.

By that time he had been suspended by Sinn Féin which had discovered he was under investigation by the PSNI for child sex offences.

Mr McMonagle pleaded guilty to 14 charges last week.

Ms O'Neill said she was "aghast" that the references had been provided. She said it had been done without the party's knowledge and it amounted to "gross misconduct".

Both officials, including a senior party strategist, resigned.

"Michelle O'Neill agreed recent comments by her and party colleagues questioning the BHF’s due diligence process were unhelpful, and she expressed regret for the damage and upset this has caused to our dedicated staff and supporters," Mr McKinney said.

He said the charity was confident it had undertaken all necessary statutory and moral duties required of it during the recruitment process.

It said Mr McMonagle had completed all its pre-recruitment checks and there had been nothing to suggest he was facing the sex offence charges when it appointed him.

It said due to confidentiality reasons, and on legal advice, the BHF was not in a position to share the references with the media, something the Taoiseach has suggested.

It said it had first become aware of the arrest and criminal charges facing Mr McMonagle in late July 2023 and suspended him two days later.

His work equipment was subsequently offered to the PSNI as part of its investigation.

It also revealed that as part of a review of the recruitment process the charity had email dialogue with Sinn Féin where it had shared that it had two references from members of the party.

It said that following his dismissal, the BHF review had confirmed that at no point during his employment had Mr McMonagle been alone with children.

His contract with the foundation ended on August 17th 2023.

Sinn Féin has said that on Thursday it established that the BHF had contacted it in August 2023 following reports of the criminal charges faced by its former press officer.

Ms O'Neill has said this contact was "not brought to my attention or the attention of the Sinn Féin leadership at that time.

"This was a serious omission," she added.

In a statement today, she said: "This morning, I spoke with Fearghal McKinney, Head of the British Heart Foundation NI, to discuss this situation.

"This is an organisation that does great work providing support, research and advocacy services. I am deeply sorry that they have been caught up in this unacceptable situation.

"I look forward to a continued constructive relationship with the British Heart Foundation in promoting heart health.

"As a political leader and a mother, I want to be clear that the issue of child safeguarding is of paramount importance to me.

"The Sinn Féin leadership and I will ensure that a situation like this will never arise again."