Vivienne Clarke
Minister for European Affairs Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has said that the Oireachtas was misled about the departure of the leader of the Seanad, Sinn Féin Senator Niall Ó Donnghaile.
“We still don't have the answer to that question," she told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland. “It's really important because the age of children participating in any sort of consent is different in Northern Ireland and in Ireland.
"Whether those messages were sent from Dublin or from Belfast and what the age of the child was at that time and what the age of the child was when Sinn Féin found out about it, not whether they did something about it, not when they reported it, just to the PSNI or updated the Oireachtas.
"What they did when they found out about it first and what age the child was when the messages were sent and from where?
“All of that really, really matters from a child protection perspective, we don't have answers in relation to that, and you would hold me to account in that way correctly. And those are the remaining questions for Sinn Féin, I'm very sorry to say," she said.
It comes as DUP leader Gavin Robinson said current controversies facing Sinn Féin have shown that the party is “not invincible”.
Delivering a speech to councillors, Mr Robinson said his party would continue to ask questions of the Sinn Féin leadership.
He also said the Executive Office at Stormont needed to be led “by a minister who can publicly show they understand the importance of safeguarding children”.
Sinn Féin has been criticised for recent weeks for its handling of a number of controversies, including that of former press officer Michael McMonagle and ex-senator Niall Ó Donnghaile.
McMonagle, 42, from Limewood Street, Derry, last month admitted to a series of offences, including attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.
It subsequently emerged that two other press officers, who have since resigned from the party, provided job references for McMonagle after Sinn Féin had suspended him amid police inquiries.
The references enabled McMonagle to get a job with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) in 2022, with the charity unaware of the allegations he was facing.
Then this week, former Sinn Féin senator Mr Ó Donnghaile revealed he had left the party after sending allegedly inappropriate text messages to a teenager.
