Sinn Féin’s trail of unanswered questions

Michael McMonagle was always considered the quiet man in the press pack.

From his days as a reporter with the Derry Journal to his time in the Sinn Féin press office he was a man of few words.

We worked the same patch in the north west and often met on jobs.

He never hid his republican credentials and it was no surprise when he moved from the journal newsroom to Sinn Féin.

But his next job switch caught us all by surprise.

I hadn’t realised he had left Sinn Féin when he popped up last year carrying a banner for the British Heart Foundation (BHF) at Stormont.

His face was the first I spotted that day.

He told us how he wanted a fresh challenge and was delighted to be working for the charity.

Now we know the truth.

He was, at the time, under investigation for child sex abuse offences and had been suspended and then dropped by Sinn Féin.

All of which he kept secret from his new employer.

It wasn’t until he appeared in court that the real story emerged.

He is now a self-confessed child sex abuser and will be sentenced for a string of offences next month.

The full extent of his crimes will be laid bare and he has already been told to expect a custodial sentence.

But the man labelled a “monster” by Sinn Féin deputy leader Michelle O’Neill leaves behind a trail of unanswered questions for his former party.

We still don’t know why Sinn Féin’s most senior press officer Seán Mag Uidhir and his colleague Caolán McGinley felt it was ok to provide a reference for a man under investigation for child sex offences.

Why did they not consult the party leadership before sending the references ?

No explanation has been provided by Sinn Féin.

Nor has the party explained how its HR manager did not red flag the references when she was told about them a year later.

It was, according to O’Neill, a “serious omission”.

The HR manager no longer works for the party, though she has retained her membership.

Then comes the key question – how was the party leadership unaware McMonagle had been employed by the BHF?

That is the line the party has been sticking rigidly to despite how implausible for some that may seem.

McMonagle could not have been more visible in Stormont in February 2023 when working for the BHF.

He carried a banner outside and mingled inside taking videos for the charity.

Photographs and TV footage show he was, at times, standing just yards from O’Neill and other Sinn Féin assembly members and special advisors.

His presence was not lost on the press pack as we saw and talked about McMonagle in his new role.

But he did not appear on O’Neil’s “radar” and there were no conversations, apparently, among the Sinn Féin team about their former press officer and his new job.

That was fortunate for the party because, had they spotted him and discovered he had taken up a new job with the charity, then that would have presented a problem.

How could Sinn Féin have stayed silent about a man whom they knew had been under investigation for child sex offences?

Of course, the party could have argued that back then McMonagle had not been charged with any crime and was an innocent man.

But there may have been a moral responsibility given the nature of the investigation to share such information

Whatever the rights and wrongs, the Sinn Féin leadership did not have to grapple with those big questions as it was not aware McMonagle had taken up a job with the BHF.

The party’s most senior press officer and HR manager were fully aware of McMonagle’s new role.

That remains a big problem for the party.

There are questions too as to how Sinn Féin first responded to what was a self-inflicted crisis.

On reflection attack was not the best form of defence.

Criticising the BHF for a lack of “due diligence” in how it recruited McMonagle was not a good move.

Not from a party where there was a glaring lack of due diligence, so much so that it is now undergoing a major governance overhaul.

The apology from O’Neill and Conor Murphy has helped repair relationships with the charity as both sides are now determined to move on.

But it is not over yet and Sinn Féin has now decided attack is the best form of defence against its political rivals.

Party leader Mary Lou McDonald lashed out at her opponents in the Dáil (lower house of the Irish parliament) and Murphy did the same at Stormont when challenged about the McMonagle case.

The Sinn Féin president warned the government parties about senior members in their ranks who have provided references for convicted rapists in the past.

Though she didn’t mention him, the Dáil Ceann Comhairle (Speaker) Seán Ó Fearghaíl was the first to spring to mind.

He provided a court reference in 2006 for a man who was convicted of raping his nephew and was jailed for six years.

The Fianna Fáil politician was criticised by the victim and his family.

Murphy referenced the case of a former Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) councillor who was jailed in 1999 for sexually assaulting two young girls.

He remained in the SDLP after being charged and only quit the party after his conviction.

Expect more cases to be raised next week when Sinn Féin will be challenged again in a Dáil debate.

The party sent a clear message to those planning to use the case to damage Sinn Féin with an election in the Republic of Ireland looming – think again.

At Stormont, this has been the first real test for the new executive.

While relations were clearly strained there was no appetite to trigger a full-blown crisis and risk another collapse.

How things have changed.