O'Neill urged to correct record over teenager's age

Michelle O’Neill is facing calls to close the grounds astatine Stormont regarding the property of the teenage lad who received inappropriate texts from the erstwhile legislator Niall Ó Donnghaile.

On Monday, the archetypal curate and Sinn Féin vice president told the assembly that enactment rank files said the lad was 17 astatine the time.

But the enactment has since said the young idiosyncratic was 16 years old.

Sinn Féin person Mary Lou McDonald is expected to close the grounds officially successful the Dáil (lower location of Irish parliament) connected Tuesday.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has called for O’Neill to instrumentality to the assembly and marque a akin correction there.

Mr Ó Donnghaile, a erstwhile Belfast lord mayor, was suspended by Sinn Féin implicit the contented but the enactment allowed him to resign connected wellness grounds successful 2023 without revealing the ailment against him.

McDonald confirmed connected Monday that she volition respond "fulsomely" to the boy's relationship of the substance and would close the Dáil grounds to corroborate the close age.

"It is precise important that the grounds of the Dáil is accurate, truthful of people it volition beryllium corrected," McDonald said.

McDonald is besides expected to contented a afloat apology to the teenager.

"He volition beryllium fixed a afloat unequivocal apology. For maine helium is simply a young idiosyncratic who deserved to beryllium afloat comfy wrong Sinn Féin. What happened to him was wrong," she said.

"Niall Ó Donnghaile's behaviour was unacceptable and utterly inappropriate. No young idiosyncratic should person experienced that."

O'Neill was questioned astir the substance successful the Northern Ireland Assembly connected Monday.

She was asked by DUP assembly subordinate Jonathan Buckley to clarify what property the lad was.

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

DUP assembly subordinate Brian Kingston said the enactment volition question O'Neill "at the scrutiny Committee for The Executive Office connected Wednesday regarding each safeguarding and misconduct matters of nationalist concern".

On Monday evening, McDonald said Sinn Féin accepted the boy's ain relationship that helium was 16 astatine the time.

"The idiosyncratic knows their property truthful evidently Michelle is right, the enactment records did bespeak that helium was 17, it was connected his exertion signifier for membership," McDonald said.

"But that doesn’t substance now. What matters is that we respond afloat to the young idiosyncratic successful question and what matters is that the Dáil grounds is close and I volition be to some of those matters tomorrow."

A Sinn Féin spokesperson said the enactment grounds of the boy's property was "based connected the day of commencement that [he] provided connected his rank documents astatine the time".

The spokesperson said it had "since emerged" that the lad was 16 years old.