Report: The Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman said Máiría Cahill was let down by a ‘disjointed’ investigation into rape allegations against a suspected IRA man. Photo: Gerry Mooney

Mary Lou McDonald has “unreservedly apologised” to Mairia Cahill after a police ombudsman report found evidence suggesting the man accused of raping the former senator was suspended from Sinn Fein as it was suspected he was abusing children.

In a statement, Ms McDonald said she “deeply regrets” that Sinn Fein did not have mandatory reporting procedures in place at the time of Ms Cahill’s ordeal.

“I have no doubt that the three women at the heart of this report have been through an ordeal,” she said. “I want to commend their bravery, in particular the bravery of Mairia Cahill for waiving her anonymity,” she added.

Ms McDonald did not respond to any questions surrounding Sinn Fein’s decision to suspend a member over child abuse concerns or whether the party reported these concerns to the authorities.

It comes as RUC intelligence shows police in Northern Ireland received information in 2000 which suggested Martin Morris was suspended from Sinn Fein because he was “suspected of abusing certain children”.

The Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman also found the RUC received intelligence around the same period which suggested the Provisional IRA were investigating the child sex abuse accusations made against Mr Morris.

Mr Morris has denied the allegations and was acquitted of charges of rape and IRA membership when his trial collapsed in 2014. The Ombudsman found the Ms Cahill was failed by the police over their handling of her sex abuse allegations.

The new highly sensitive RUC information will not be published by the Police Ombudsman, but it is set out in a letter to alleged sex abuse victim, Ms Cahill.

“RUC CID (Criminal Investigation Division) received information in 2000 that suggested Mr Morris was suspended from Sinn Fein as it was suspected that he was abusing certain children,” the letter states.

“This information was placed on police systems and shared with specific police officers within the CARE unit, CID and Special Branch

“Upon Request by the Police Ombudsman, police confirmed they could find no electronic record of any actions having been taken by the police officers with whom this information was share,” it adds.

The letter also states, “it was evident that police within RUC Special Branch and CID had received intelligence reports in 2000 onwards that collectively suggested that Mr Morris was allegedly involved in the sexual abuse of children and that was being investigated by the PIRA.”

In a statement the Ombudsman, Dr Michael Maguire, said he had found Ms Cahill had been “failed” by a disjointed police investigation.

He confirmed the RUC, which was the predecessor to the PSNI, had information about the alleged abuse ten years before it began investigating the case and recommended four officers be disciplined for shortcomings in the police response.

Ms Cahill, a grand-niece of prominent Belfast republican Joe Cahill, told detectives in 2010 she had been sexually abused by Morris in 1997 and 1998 when she was 16. He was later acquitted of rape and denies all wrongdoing.

In 2014, Ms Cahill revealed she had several meetings with then Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams about her abuse claims. She also alleged she was subject to an IRA interrogation over her allegations.

Mr Adams has previously insisted the party did not engage in any cover-up of abuse at any level.

He also previously denied claims by Ms Cahill that she was subjected to an IRA “kangaroo court”.

Ms Cahill told the Irish Independent the report showed she was “telling the truth” about the abuse she endured and the IRA’s involvement investigating her rape allegations.

“Contemporaneously intelligence obtained by the Ombudsman which had been given to the RUC and special branch detailed an IRA investigation into sexual abuse and Sinn Féin’s actions towards the abuser who was a member of their party,” she said.

“In addition, from the failure of the police to act on this information you can reasonably conclude children were potentially put at risk.”

Dr Maguire found that the PSNI investigation had failed the victims, but he did not support the allegations that it chose not to arrest some of the individuals concerned because they were police informants or that it had been subject to political interference.

He found there was an inconsistent approach to the investigation of some of the people suspected of IRA membership. But he found no evidence that anyone had been protected from prosecution.

Online Editors