First Minister to face questions in Assembly over sex offender former employee

Stormont First Minister Michelle O’Neill is to be summoned before the Assembly on Monday to answer questions about a sex offender former employee.

It comes as the Assembly authorities have been asked to clarify whether Michael McMonagle was individually employed by Ms O’Neill, rather than Sinn Fein, during his time as a party press officer.

DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley asked the Speaker if it could be clarified which Sinn Fein MLAs employed McMonagle, and whether they included the First Minister.

He also asked for confirmation about when Sinn Fein notified the Assembly and terminated McMonagle’s Stormont access pass, and whether the Assembly’s safeguarding policy had been compromised.

Speaker Edwin Poots said he had selected an urgent oral question for Ms O’Neill on the matter in the Assembly on Monday afternoon.

Sinn Fein is also facing questions after it emerged that two former party press officers provided references for McMonagle in 2022, for a job with the British Heart Foundation (BHF), after he was suspended from the party following his arrest in 2021.

Ms O’Neill said both the press officers lost their jobs and were no longer members of the party, adding that she apologised for the hurt and distress caused by their actions.

There have been some apparent irregularities in accounts given about who in the party knew about the references provided and when, and why they did not inform BHF that McMonagle had been under police investigation.

Last month, McMonagle, 42, from Limewood Street, Londonderry, admitted a series of offences, including attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

Earlier, Fearghal McKinney, head of the BHF in Northern Ireland, said the charity had suffered reputational damage over the matter.

He said the charity was dismayed when their due diligence appeared to have been questioned.

He spoke to Ms O’Neill on Saturday and said she expressed regret over comments she made last week that there were lessons for a lot of people in terms of “due diligence for an employer when they take on an employee”.

“This caused enormous distress and anxiety among our staff and unwavering supporters,” he told the BBC.

“It was quite clear that whenever comments were made about due diligence that there was only one other organisation that employed him since he was employed by Sinn Fein, so clearly there was a reflection on us.”

He said any damage to the charity could undermine their good work.

“When this happened and there was damage caused, as we saw it, to our reputation, added damage we thought around the public comments that were made, we had to do something to make sure that the record was put straight,” he said.

“We’re content that we have done everything in our power in order of keeping all our supporters, all our staff and the wider public that’s connected with us safe, and they know that that’s the standard that the British Heart Foundation applies.”