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Michelle O’Neill was answering questions from the Stormont Executive Committee
First Minister Michelle O’Neill has refused to answer questions at Stormont’s scrutiny committee about Sinn Féin’s response to recent party disputes.
There were angry exchanges between members of the executive committee over whether the questions posed were within their legal authority.
Mr O’Neill appeared at Wednesday’s committee meeting amid controversy over Sinn Féin’s response to several issues involving former politicians and staff.
The Sinn Féin deputy leader reiterated that the questions being asked were “party political” and “not the purview of this committee.”
“Party political issues”
Mr. O’Neill appeared before the Executive Committee on Wednesday and declined to answer several questions about these issues.
The First Minister said they had already been “fully discussed” and legal advice was taken under the committee’s authority.
“I have been open and transparent. I am here today fully representing the executive branch in my capacity as prime minister,” she said.
Mr O’Neill said the last time he appeared before the committee, “the lines between ministerial and party responsibilities were blurred”.
“I think we all need to be aware of clear legal advice,” she added.
O’Neill said the committee shared some questions with officials ahead of the meeting, but she had “grave concerns that these questions do not meet the test that your and my legal advice has set.” He said he was holding.
He added that “party political issues are not the subject of this committee.”
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Niall Ó Donghail was a member of the House of Lords of Ireland and former Mayor of Belfast.
exchange of anger
When asked about the damage to the DUP mayor’s portrait, Mr O’Neill said: “I have no comment on anything that may have happened at City Hall on Saturday night.”
Towards the end of the session there were angry exchanges between Sinn Féin and trade unionists on the committee.
Sinn Féin councilor Caral Ní Tuilin has criticized recent talks by Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) ministers with Loyalist Community Councils (LCCs), an umbrella organization that includes representatives of loyalist paramilitary groups.
DUP MP Brian Kingston responded: “I think you all know more about paramilitary groups than I do.”
Earlier, sharp words were exchanged between Alliance party chair Paula Bradshaw and Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) member Timothy Gaston.
Mr Bradshaw rejected Mr Gaston’s criticism of his meeting with the Prime Minister ahead of the committee.
However, an Alliance Party lawmaker said, “There are no procedural problems,” and that it is “extremely standard practice” for committee chairs to meet with relevant ministers.
“It is completely disingenuous to suggest that this was a suspicious meeting,” she added.
On Wednesday’s Nolan Live show, Bradshaw said the meeting was “not about party political questions that this committee doesn’t need to answer, but about why she is coming back to answer them in her role as executive branch minister.” It was to show.” ”
The DUP’s Brian Kingston told the program that he had provided some sample questions in advance.
He added: “We have asked the minister to come back in two weeks after her appearance at the committee and show us the basis for inviting her back.”
Mr Kingston said the questions were set out to provide background on the types of questions members wanted to ask.
“What happened to this young man is unacceptable.”
On Tuesday, the First Minister corrected Stormont’s records regarding the age of the teenage boy who received inappropriate emails from Mr Ó Donghail.
The messages are believed to have been personal in nature, but were not sexually explicit.
Mr O’Neill previously said the party’s membership file said the boy was 17 at the time, but the young man said he was 16.
The council was told Mr O’Neill had “fully accepted” his age and asked him to correct the information on his record.
She also apologized repeatedly to the teenager and said she “really regrets any harm caused” by the party’s statement following Mr Ó Donghail’s resignation from the Senate in December 2023. I think so,” he added.
Former Belfast mayor Ó Donghail was suspended by Sinn Féin over the matter, but the party confirmed he was stepping down for health reasons without disclosing the charges against him.
P.A.
Mary Lou McDonald paid tribute to senator as she resigned
In the Republic of Ireland, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald also publicly corrected the record on the age of young people in the Dáil on Tuesday.
She said it was her understanding from information provided on the application to join the party’s youth wing Ogra Sinn Féin that the boy was 17 at the time.
“The young man himself has revealed that he was in fact 16 years old at the time, so we would like the Dáil record to be corrected to reflect that he was in fact 16 years old at the time the message was sent,” she said. Ta.
Mr MacDonald also apologized for statements she made after Mr Ó Donghail’s resignation.
“I have now written to the young man and his mother to offer my full, unambiguous and sincere apology,” she said.
“What happened to this young man was wrong, Niall Ó Donghail’s actions were unacceptable and completely inappropriate and no young person should have had to go through something like that.”
