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Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nMichael McMonagle was always considered the quiet man in the press pack.<\/p>\n From his days as a reporter with the Derry Journal to his time in the Sinn F\u00e9in press office he was a man of few words.<\/p>\n We worked the same patch in the north west and often met on jobs.<\/p>\n He never hid his republican credentials and it was no surprise when he moved from the journal newsroom to Sinn F\u00e9in.<\/p>\n But his next job switch caught us all by surprise.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I hadn’t realised he had left Sinn F\u00e9in when he popped up last year carrying a banner for the British Heart Foundation (BHF) at Stormont.<\/p>\n His face was the first I spotted that day.<\/p>\n He told us how he wanted a fresh challenge and was delighted to be working for the charity.<\/p>\n Now we know the truth.<\/p>\n He was, at the time, under investigation for child sex abuse offences and had been suspended and then dropped by Sinn F\u00e9in.<\/p>\n All of which he kept secret from his new employer.<\/p>\n It wasn’t until he appeared in court that the real story emerged.<\/p>\n He is now a self-confessed child sex abuser and will be sentenced for a string of offences next month.<\/a><\/p>\n The full extent of his crimes will be laid bare and he has already been told to expect a custodial sentence.<\/p>\n But the man labelled a “monster” by Sinn F\u00e9in deputy leader Michelle O’Neill leaves behind a trail of unanswered questions for his former party.<\/p>\n We still don’t know why Sinn F\u00e9in’s most senior press officer Se\u00e1n Mag Uidhir and his colleague Caol\u00e1n McGinley felt it was ok to provide a reference for a man under investigation for child sex offences.<\/p>\n Why did they not consult the party leadership before sending the references ?<\/p>\n No explanation has been provided by Sinn F\u00e9in.<\/p>\n Nor has the party explained how its HR manager did not red flag the references when she was told about them a year later.<\/p>\n It was, according to O’Neill, a “serious omission”.<\/p>\n The HR manager no longer works for the party, though she has retained her membership.<\/p>\n Then comes the key question – how was the party leadership unaware McMonagle had been employed by the BHF?<\/p>\n That is the line the party has been sticking rigidly to despite how implausible for some that may seem.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n McMonagle could not have been more visible in Stormont in February 2023 when working for the BHF.<\/p>\n He carried a banner outside and mingled inside taking videos for the charity.<\/p>\n Photographs and TV footage show he was, at times, standing just yards from O’Neill and other Sinn F\u00e9in assembly members and special advisors.<\/p>\n His presence was not lost on the press pack as we saw and talked about McMonagle in his new role.<\/p>\n But he did not appear on O’Neil’s “radar” and there were no conversations, apparently, among the Sinn F\u00e9in team about their former press officer and his new job.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n How could Sinn F\u00e9in have stayed silent about a man whom they knew had been under investigation for child sex offences?<\/p>\n Of course, the party could have argued that back then McMonagle had not been charged with any crime and was an innocent man.<\/p>\n But there may have been a moral responsibility given the nature of the investigation to share such information<\/p>\n Whatever the rights and wrongs, the Sinn F\u00e9in leadership did not have to grapple with those big questions as it was not aware McMonagle had taken up a job with the BHF.<\/p>\n The party’s most senior press officer and HR manager were fully aware of McMonagle’s new role. <\/p>\n That remains a big problem for the party.<\/p>\n There are questions too as to how Sinn F\u00e9in first responded to what was a self-inflicted crisis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n On reflection attack was not the best form of defence.<\/p>\n Criticising the BHF for a lack of “due diligence” in how it recruited McMonagle was not a good move.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n‘Monster’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\nSelf-inflicted crisis<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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PA Media<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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