Enormous distress and anxiety was caused to staff and supporters of the British Heart Foundation following claims by First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Economy Minister Conor Murphy questioning the charity’s due diligence in hiring a now convicted sex offender.
Fearghal McKinney, the head of the BHF in Northern Ireland, said reputational damage could have been caused to the charity if it had not corrected the record.
“This caused enormous distress and anxiety among our staff and unwavering supporters,” he said following the comments, including Ms O’Neill’s claim there were lessons for a lot of people in terms of “due diligence for an employer when they take on an employee”.
Michael McMonagle was hired by the BHF as a press and communications officer in September 2022. Two Sinn Féin press officers, long time party member and republican activist, Seán Mag Uidhur and Caolán McGinley, provided references.
McMonagle, who will be sentenced in November, was suspended by the party following his arrest in August 2021 but remained on the payroll for another year.
Mr McKinney said Ms O’Neill, who said she did not know about the references until September 25, has “expressed regret” about the comments on due diligence.
The BHF informed what it described as a senior Sinn Féin human resources manager of the references after Mr McMonagle appeared in court in August last year.
“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 Féin, so clearly there was a reflection on us,” he told the BBC.
“We need to have support from the public – close supporters, volunteers, staff,” Mr McKinney said.
“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,” Mr McKinney 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 what the standard that the British Heart Foundation applies.”
Mr McKinney said Ms 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”.
“The tone of the phone call and the words of the phone call were sufficient for us to feel confident that, in fact, the situation and the record has been put absolutely straight.
“We reached out to Sinn Féin to let them know that the comments around the nearness of their knowledge about this was not the reality and that in fact we had been talking to a HR official in Sinn Féin over a year before.”
Ms O’Neill confirmed on Saturday that a HR manager was contacted by the charity in August 2023, but said the party’s leadership was not made aware of this at the time. She said this was “a serious omission”.
