Skip to content

'Lessons to be learned' from McMonagle report, says FM

Brendan Hughes
BBC News NI political reporter
Pacemaker Michael McMonagle. He has brown hair and wearing a brown corduroy jacket and blue shirt.Pacemaker
McMonagle was jailed for child sex offences in 2024

First Minister Michelle O'Neill has said there are "lessons to be learned for everybody" following a Stormont report examining the employment of a former Sinn Féin press officer who was later convicted of child sex offences.

The review by the Northern Ireland Assembly found Michael McMonagle likely "misrepresented" details of his employment which may have resulted in a "misuse of public money".

The matter has since been referred to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

O'Neill, who employed McMonagle for a period in 2020, welcomed the report and said she was "acutely aware of the need to be fully accountable in terms of public money".

PA Media A close-up picture of Michelle O'Neill who has blonde hair and is wearing lipstick. She is frowning.PA Media
For a period in 2020 Michelle O'Neill employed Michael McMonagle, who was later convicted of sex offences

Speaking on Tuesday, the Sinn Féin vice-president said she "fully cooperated" with the review and described it as "very comprehensive".

"I think it's been a very useful piece of work, because I think there's lessons to be learned for everybody in terms of how we employ people and actually how that's all fully accountable," she said.

McMonagle, from Limewood Street in Londonderry, was jailed last year for child sex offences.

The case prompted a review of his previous employment arrangements with Sinn Féin and the party's elected representatives.

It found for three months in 2020 he simultaneously held two full-time jobs working for two Sinn Féin politicians - O'Neill and West Tyrone MP Órfhlaith Begley - while also working as a party press officer.

The review said Sinn Féin "ought to have known" McMonagle was contracted to work for about 80 hours a week.

It found McMonagle was "likely to have misrepresented his employments and that neither Ms Begley nor Ms O'Neill were aware of this".

Speaking to reporters, O'Neill said she welcomed the report being in the public domain and said "people will make up their own minds".

On her past employment of McMonagle, she said: "We were at a time of Covid. It was a very short time in which he did work for me and there was an overlap.

"But I do believe there are lessons to be learned there of course."