Sinn Féin leaders correct age of teen texted by senator on record

Michelle O’Neill has corrected the record at Stormont regarding the age of the teenage boy who received inappropriate texts from the former Irish Senator Niall Ó Donnghaile.

On Monday, the first minister and Sinn Féin deputy leader told the Northern Ireland Assembly that party membership files said the boy was 17 at the time.

But the young person had said he was 16 years old.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has also corrected the record officially in the Dáil (lower house of Irish parliament).

On Tuesday, O’Neill told the assembly she “fully accepted” the age and wanted to correct the information on the record.

She said it was her understanding that the young person was 17 based on the information he had provided in his application to join Sinn Féin.

She also repeated her apology to him saying she was “absolutely so sorry for the hurt caused” by the party’s statement issued following Mr Ó Donnghaile’s resignation in December 2023.

O’Neill had been facing calls to return to the assembly after the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) submitted an urgent question.

It is understood that she will return to Stormont’s executive office committee for more questioning on Wednesday about Sinn Féin’s handling of child protection issues and recent controversies.

It is also understood that she will appear without Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly or junior ministers.

She had been invited by the committee to come back some weeks ago, after members said they had additional questions to put to her.

McDonald came to the Dáil on Tuesday to correct the record in which she previously stated the young person was 16 and apologised for her words.

“I have now written to the young person and his mother offering a full, unequivocal and sincere apology,” she said.

“What happened to this young person was wrong, Niall Ó Donnghaile’s behaviour was unacceptable, utterly inappropriate, and no young person should have experienced that.”

The Sinn Féin leader also said she was “very sorry” for the hurt the words in her statement following Mr Ó Donnghaile’s resignation.

“That was never, ever my intention, and I apologize to that young person,” she added.

McDonald said it was her understanding the teenager was 17 years old at the time of the incident “because of the information provided on his application, formally applied to join Ográ Sinn Fein, that information was wrong,” Ms McDonald said.

“The young person themselves have made clear that he was in fact 16 at the time, so I want to correct the Dáil record to reflect that he was in fact 16 years of age when the text was sent.”

Sinn Féin has faced criticism over the last week for its handling of the suspension and resignation of Mr Ó Donnghaile.

Mr Ó Donnghaile, a former Belfast lord mayor, was suspended by Sinn Féin over the issue but the party allowed him to resign on health grounds in 2023 without revealing the complaint against him.

Calls for clarity on the teenager’s age came following a Sunday Independent article where the boy said he was 16 at the time the texts were sent and not 17 as McDonald and O’Neill had previously said.

The message is believed to have been personal in nature but not sexually explicit.

The party has also been questioned over its safeguarding policies after two former press officers gave references to former colleague and convicted child sex offender Michael McMonagle.

On Monday, it emerged that a Sinn Féin employee had resigned after admitting involvement in an incident where a portrait of former DUP lord mayor Lord Browne was damaged.

Speaking at Stormont on Tuesday, the first minister said the employee was “immediately suspended” and the police have been notified.

On Monday evening, McDonald said Sinn Féin accepted the boy’s own account that he was 16 at the time.

“The person knows their age so obviously Michelle [O’Neill] is right, the party records did indicate that he was 17, it was on his application form for membership,” McDonald said.

“But that doesn’t matter now. What matters is that we respond fully to the young person in question and what matters is that the Dáil record is accurate and I will attend to both of those matters tomorrow.”

A Sinn Féin spokesperson said the party record of the boy’s age was “based on the date of birth that [he] provided on his membership documents at the time”.

The spokesperson said it had “since emerged” that the boy was 16 years old.