A Sinn Féin councillor has been suspended from the party over an allegation of sending inappropriate online messages to a minor.
Cllr JJ Magee has been a member of Belfast City Council since 2014.
Sinn Féin chairman Declan Kearney said the party whip has been removed from Cllr Magee and his suspension has been made “without prejudice”. Cllr Magee denies the allegations.
Details have been forwarded to social services in the North and the Police Service of Northern Ireland in compliance with Sinn Féin’s child safeguarding policy.
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“The party will not be making any further comment as this matter is under active investigation by the appropriate authorities,” Mr Kearney added.
In a statement issued through KRW Law in Belfast, Cllr Magee “absolutely” denied any allegation of inappropriate conduct.
He has engaged with the Northern Ireland Local Government Commissioner for Standards (NILGC).
KRWLaw said Cllr Magee had lodged a 12,000 word, 38 page rebuttal. The complaint against him, the law firm added, is “malicious, selective and edits significant portions of messages sent and received over a three month period”.
“Our client asserts that there is not a single line in any message sent by him which could be considered to be inappropriate.
“Our client looks forward to being exonerated and having his good name restored,” the statement concluded.
Cllr Magee is a brother of the former Sinn Féin press officer Gerard Magee, who is the long-term partner of Sinn Féin MLA Carál Ní Chuilín.
The announcement by Sinn Féin comes after a series of scandals have rocked the party in the weeks before the general election expected shortly in the Republic.
Last week, the former chairman of the Public Accounts committee Brian Stanley announced he would run as an independent candidate in Laois, leaving the party struggling to find a candidate in the country. Mr Stanley resigned, claiming he was being subjected to a kangaroo court, during an inquiry into his behaviour towards a young woman, who had made a complaint to the party about him.
The Stanley affair came as the party was rocked by revelations of inappropriate texts from former senator Niall Ó Donnghaile to a 16-year-old male party member. Party leader Mary Lou McDonald apologised for a warm tribute to Ó Donnghaile after he resigned last year, when the party made no mention of the real reason for his resignation.
The party also had to deal with the fallout from revelations that senior members in Belfast had supplied references to a former press officer who later pleaded guilty to child sex offences.
Seán Mag Uidhir and Caolán McGinley resigned after giving a reference for Michael McMonagle who joined the British Heart Foundation. McMonagle has since pleaded guilty to 14 charges including two charges of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.
Separately, Kildare South TD Patricia Ryan resigned from the party recently after internal tensions.
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