Michelle O’Neill urged that the data on the teenager’s age be corrected

Michelle O’Neill is facing calls to correct records at Stormont regarding the age of the teenage boy who received inappropriate text messages from former senator Niall Ó Donnghaile.

On Monday, Sinn Féin’s prime minister and vice-president told the meeting that the party’s membership files showed the boy was 17 at the time.

But the party has since said the youngster was 16 years old.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald is expected to officially correct the record in the Dáil (lower house of the Irish parliament) on Tuesday.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has called on O’Neill to return to the meeting and make a similar correction.

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

McDonald confirmed on Monday that she will respond “fully” to the boy’s account of the case and correct the Dáil record to confirm the correct age.

“It is very important that the Dáil data is accurate so obviously this will be corrected,” McDonald said.

McDonald is also expected to issue a full apology to the teenager.

“He will receive a full, unequivocal apology. To me, he is a young person who deserved to feel completely comfortable with Sinn Féin. What happened to him was wrong,” she said.

“Niall Ó Donnghaile’s behavior was unacceptable and completely inappropriate. No young person should have had to experience that.”

O’Neill was questioned about the issue in the Northern Ireland Assembly on Monday.

DUP Assembly member Jonathan Buckley asked her for clarification on the boy’s age.

O’Neill responded: “According to our records, the youth was actually 17 years old. That is the record we have in our membership files.”

DUP Assembly Member Brian Kingston said the party will question O’Neill at the Executive Office scrutiny committee on Wednesday on all safety and misconduct matters of public interest.

On Monday evening, McDonald said Sinn Féin accepted the boy’s own account that he was 16 at the time.

“The person knows his age so it’s clear Michelle is right. The party records showed he was 17, that was on his membership application form,” 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 report is accurate and I will deal with both matters tomorrow.”

A Sinn Féin spokesman said the party’s recording of the boy’s age was “based on the date of birth (he) stated on his membership documents at the time”.

According to the spokesperson, it had been known “since then” that the boy was 16 years old.