McDonald to apologise to teen who received texts

Mary Lou McDonald said she accepted the boy's account that he was 16 at the time

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has said she will make "a full, unequivocal apology" to the teenager who received inappropriate texts from a Sinn Féin senator.

The boy has said he was 16 when he received unwanted texts from Niall Ó Donnghaile, who was a member of the Seanad Éireann (Irish Senate) in Dublin.

Ó Donnghaile, a former Belfast lord mayor, was suspended by Sinn Féin over the issue but the party allowed him to resign on health grounds in 2023 without revealing the complaint against him.

McDonald has said she will respond "fulsomely" to the boy's account of the matter and would correct the Dáil (Irish parliament) record to confirm he was 16 not 17.

Earlier on Monday, Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O'Neill was questioned about the matter in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) assembly member Jonathan Buckley asked her to clarify what age the boy was.

O'Neill replied: "According to our records the young person was in fact, 17. That's the records we have in our files of membership."

However, on Monday evening her party leader said Sinn Féin accepted the boy's own account that he was 16 at the time.

"The person knows their age so obviously Michelle is right, the party records did indicate that he was 17, it was on his application form for membership," McDonald said.

"But that doesn’t matter now. What matters is that we respond fully to the young person in question and what matters is that the Dáil record is accurate and I will attend to both of those matters tomorrow."

A Sinn Féin spokesperson said the party record of the boy's age was "based on the date of birth that [he] provided on his membership documents at the time".

The spokesperson said it had "since emerged" that the boy was 16.

Analysis: 'Problems increasing by the day'

In a crisis, details matter.

And in this case when there is a microscope on Sinn Féin’s every move and the party has said it has presented a full account of what it knew and when, every detail is being scrutinised carefully.

First we were told by Mary Lou McDonald last week that the boy at the heart of the controversy was 17 at the time he was contacted by Niall Ó Donnghaile.

Then he told the Sunday Independent that was not true, and that he was 16.

On Monday, Michelle O’Neill told the Stormont Assembly that the party’s records showed the boy was “in fact” 17 at the time.

Facing pressure over how those two accounts tallied, her party president just hours later relented and said while party records may have said he was 17, the teenager “knows his age”.

Now McDonald is expected to correct the record officially in the Dáil on Tuesday, while the DUP has already called for O’Neill to return to the assembly and make a similar correction there.

It is up to the assembly speaker to decide whether to accept that request, but whether it is inside or outside the assembly chamber, O’Neill will continue to face questions at a time when the party’s problems seem to be increasing by the day.

'Like a mental stab'

At the weekend, the boy gave a first-hand account of the matter in a letter published by the Sunday Independent newspaper.

The text messages he received are believed to have been personal in nature but not sexually explicit.

The teenager wrote that it was "painful and frustrating" watching Ó Donnghaile step down for "health reasons" in December 2023.

McDonald had released a statement at the time of Ó Donnghaile's resignation, paying tribute to the contribution he had made.

The teenager's letter described McDonald's tribute as feeling "like a mental stab".

Niall Ó Donnghaile resigned from the Seanad in 2023 on health grounds

Questioned about the teenager's letter on Monday, McDonald she had "heard very carefully" what the teenager had to say.

"I read the young person’s statement so of course I’m going to respond to that fulsomely and of course we will ensure that the record of the Dáil is absolutely accurate," she told reporters.

"As for an apology for the young person – he will be given a full unequivocal apology from me.

"He’s a young person who ought to have been, who deserved to be fully comfortable within Sinn Féin.

"What happened to him was wrong. Niall's behaviour was unacceptable and utterly inappropriate and no young person should have experienced that."

Speaking in the Northern Ireland Assembly, O'Neill also said she was "deeply sorry and angry" that the young person had to "endure any inappropriate or unacceptable behaviour" and added that Ó Donnghaile had faced consequences for his actions.

"All child protection protocols were followed - the protection of a young person was our primary concern," she said.

O'Neill said she was also willing to return to Stormont's Executive Office committee to face further questioning about child protection matters.

A date has not yet been confirmed for this.