Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald is to make a comprehensive statement today on the case of a party member who stood down after allegedly sending inappropriate text messages to a teenager, a Sinn Féin spokesman has said.
Ms McDonald is to address the matter this afternoon when the Coalition uses some of its time in the Dáil to hear statements on child protection. This comes after the Government and some Opposition members demanded that Sinn Féin make a statement to the House on the controversy surrounding Michael McMonagle, a former party press officer.
McMonagle (42), from Limewood Street in Derry, last month pleaded guilty to two charges of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, and 12 counts of attempted sexual communication with a child on dates in 2020 and 2021.
He was suspended from his job with Sinn Féin after he was arrested in August 2021, but was appointed to the role of communications manager with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) charity in Belfast in September 2022.
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Sinn Féin has come under fire over how it dealt with the issue after it emerged that employment references were provided for McMonagle by two officials who have since left the party.
There were reports over the weekend that a senior party figure had resigned after allegedly sending inappropriate texts to a 17-year-old party member. Ms McDonald is expected to address the steps Sinn Féin took in reporting the matter to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and social services in Northern Ireland.
The party is likely to come under pressure as well to outline the steps it took to notify the GAA if there was any involvement by the individual with that organisation.
Ms McDonald last week signalled that Sinn Féin would challenge the Government on its own child protection policies during today’s debate, saying that “very senior members” of Coalition parties have written character references for “convicted rapists and child abusers”.
Separately, it is understood that a cover letter on a referral of matters arising from the party’s inquiry into allegations against its former Laois-Offaly TD and Public Accounts Committee chairman Brian Stanley makes reference to text messages between the individuals involved in the case.
The incident which led to the complaint is alleged to have taken place on October 11th last year, with a counter allegation relating to an incident which is alleged to have taken place two days later. The party first learned of the complaint on July 26th last and it was formally submitted was made on August 2nd.
Mr Stanley announced he was leaving Sinn Féin last Saturday, citing a “kangaroo court” set up by the party after the complaint was made. Sinn Féin has disputed his characterisation of the process initiated after the complaint. The party referred the matter to the Garda on Sunday, an action it said was taken out of an “abundance of caution”.
Confusion has arisen over the manner in which the party submitted the referral to the Garda. It is understood it was hand delivered to Kevin Street Garda station at around 4pm on Sunday by a barrister acting on the party’s behalf, and addressed to the chief superintendent.
Garda sources said they were surprised at the manner the referral was made, saying a cold call to a public office, involving the surrender of a document, was a very unusual way to submit a matter for consideration. This was especially so in this case as the referral was being made by the largest Opposition party in the State.
“It’s unusual they wouldn’t make a call to Garda headquarters, even get in touch with the commissioner’s office to let them know it was coming, or where it had been left,” said one source.
Others pointed out the commissioner’s office was often approached by Opposition parties on a range of issues, adding that approaching his office was a clear and obvious line of communication between political parties and the force.
Garda headquarters said it “does not comment on named” individuals or organisations. “In general, and without commenting on any specific matter, third party referrals to An Garda Síochána are initially examined to determine whether they meet the threshold for a potential criminal offence. They are not automatically subject to criminal investigation.”
Meanwhile, senior Government members are seeking to ramp-up pressure on Sinn Féin over child protection issues and the controversy over the resignation of Mr Stanley from the party.
Asked on Tuesday about what he wants to hear from Sinn Féin during this afternoon’s debate, Taoiseach Simon Harris said some of the issues “are actually so serious and so grave that what they don’t require is political pot shots”.
“We shouldn’t see political theatrics. What we should see today is the leader of Sinn Féin take the opportunity to answer basic questions around timelines and process and around extraordinarily serious issues to do with the protection of children. We shouldn’t need to have a kind of drip-feed of information.”
Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman said he wants further information from Sinn Féin and Mr Stanley in relation to the circumstances of the TD’s resignation at the weekend. He said the information in relation to the controversy is “vague” and “there are still more questions than answers out there at the moment”.
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