First Minister could face a series of Assembly probes over recent Stormont appearances on SF scandals
A number of complaints have been lodged with the Assembly Standards Commissioner – with more expected to follow – in relation to the First Minister Michelle O'Neill’s recent Stormont appearances, the News Letter understands.
Once a complaint has been lodged and an investigation has begun – the complainant is precluded from sharing information about the matter with anyone else.
A number of the complaints relate to the First Minister’s responses in the Assembly and in a controversial recent sitting of the Executive Office (TEO) committee, in which she refused to answer questions on a series of issues relating to Sinn Fein’s handling of child safeguarding matters. Sinn Fein were asked if Michelle O’Neill wished to comment, but the party did not respond.
On 23 October, Michelle O’Neill appeared before the TEO committee – and stuck to a position that various matters weren’t within the remit of the committee, or her office. However, she appeared to be aware of the advice that had been given to the committee, despite the chair Paula Bradshaw making clear it hadn’t been discussed in a private meeting between the pair that morning.
The controversial meeting wasn’t minuted, and no notes were taken by the committee staff – and it is still unclear whether or not the Executive Office took a note of their version of events.
There are also questions about when an invitation from the First Minister to Paula Bradshaw was sent – and whether it was sent from a Sinn Fein or an official TEO email address. When the request was shared with the committee in October, those details were removed, but chair Paula Bradshaw insisted they would be provided to MLAs. The timeline of the request for the meeting is significant – because MLAs on the committee were only informed it was happening 10 minutes in advance.
If it was sent from a SF email address – it raises questions about whether the First Minister was acting in a party political capacity. That is an important distinction, as if the request was made in her capacity as SF leader it would raise further questions about the Chair’s decision to attend the meeting. TEO hasn’t responded to questions on these issues, submitted over a week ago.