Ex-Belfast resident in ‘SNP/IRA’ protest at Scottish Parliament

A former Belfast resident who disrupted the Scottish Parliament on Thursday has said he was driven to protest by apparent SNP support for the IRA.
The former Belfast resident (right) who was escorted from Holyrood on Thursday after an angry outburst directed at SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon. The image the captured by a photographer from the Scottish Sun.The former Belfast resident (right) who was escorted from Holyrood on Thursday after an angry outburst directed at SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon. The image the captured by a photographer from the Scottish Sun.
The former Belfast resident (right) who was escorted from Holyrood on Thursday after an angry outburst directed at SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon. The image the captured by a photographer from the Scottish Sun.

During an outburst from the public gallery at Holyrood, First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon was asked if she thought it appropriate that “supporters of the IRA” were in the Scottish government.

One of the two men involved in the demonstration had lived in Belfast for 18 years before moving back to his native Scotland in recent years.

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He told the News Letter he was driven to protest by the ongoing “alienation of unionists” in the now SNP-dominated political landscape in Scotland.

“I have come back to Scotland the divide is the exact same as it is in Northern Ireland with this political conflict. They (SNP) are deliberately creating division,” he said.

“I have tried to speak to their MSPs but they won’t speak to us. Once they brand you a unionist they view you as toxic and won’t speak to you. They are alienating a whole section of the community.”

The protester claims to have received a number of threats from nationalist extremists since his public outburst and does not wish to be named.

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Before being removed from the Holyrood chamber, he shouted at the SNP leader: “Brigadier Sturgeon, why do so many in your party support the IRA?

“Do you think that’s appropriate...supporters of the IRA in a party in the administration of government?”

He added: “John Mason [MSP for Glasgow Shettleston] called the IRA ‘freedom fighters’ but they won’t support unionists. SNP-IRA.”

In March 2018 Mr Mason apologised after saying – during a Twitter exchange about the IRA murder of three Scottish soldiers in 1971 – that some people viewed the IRA as “freedom fighters” not “Irish terrorists”.

The SNP has declined to comment.

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In a statement on Friday afternoon, the PUP in Scotland said: “The Progressive Unionist Party Scottish Constituency Association extend our support to the two concerned unionists who protested during First Minister’s Questions at the Scottish Parliament yesterday (23/1/20).

“We share their concerns and frustrations about the growing connections between the SNP and the divisive politics of Irish republicanism.

“The evidence is clear in our opinion, from an SNP councillor who is also a member of an Irish republican flute band to an SNP MSP who called the Provisional IRA ‘freedom fighters’ and openly stated that he would not speak for any of his constituents that were ‘Unionist’ or supported ‘Orange marches’.

“The protesters called First Minister Nicola Sturgeon out on her party’s growing support for the IRA and their open contempt for the Unionist/Loyalist community. PUP Scotland stand with them and we support any action that highlights the SNP’s real agenda concerning unionist voters in Scotland.

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“PUP Scotland chairman Sandy Nicol said ‘We support the efforts of concerned unionists who feel frustrated that the actions by politicians we consider to be persecution of the Unionist community is being ignored by the parties they are members of. We stand with those protesters from yesterday and will robustly act against any attempt to silence their voice in a Scotland under the SNP.”