Michelle O’Neill faces further questions in relation to former Sinn Féin press officer and child sex offender Michael McMonagle.
DUP MLA Dianne Dodds has submitted an urgent question to the Assembly, asking if confidence in her office as first minister has been diminished.
Analysis: Sinn Féin account of McMonagle failings just doesn’t add up
Michael McMonagle was hired by the British Heart Foundation (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.
Sinn Féin’s failure to warn the BHF that McMonagle was a suspected child sex offender has come under scrutiny in recent days.
McMonagle admitted a series of offences, including attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, last month.
Over the weekend Ms O’Neill admitted that “serious omissions” were made in earlier accounts provided by the party over references given, saying she was “appalled and horrified” that this occurred.
MLA Dodds’ question asks the first minister given her “departmental responsibilities towards victim and survivors of childhood abuse and children in relation to how she and her party managed issues of child protection and safeguarding following the arrest of Mr Michael McMonagle have diminished confidence in her office”.
The DUP and SDLP have called for “full transparency” and demanded the first minister appear before MLA’s to face questions.
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