Sinn Fein's latest IRA commemoration described as 'atrocious' and 'coat-trailing glorification' of Provo killer
The latest IRA commemoration by Sinn Fein has been labelled “atrocious” by the UUP leader, while a man bereaved by the Provos has hit out at “depraved” republican ideology.
Jon Burrows MLA and Geoffrey Dunlop were reacting to Sinn Fein’s involvement in a graveyard commemoration of Thomas McElwee in Bellaghy in south Co Londonderry on Sunday.
Geoffrey Dunlop had been aged four years old when his mother Yvonne was killed by a firebomb planted by McElwee, and he has now accused the party of “coat-trailing, politically-motivated glorification” of the killer.
Mr Burrows meanwhile said "Sinn Fein cannot credibly claim to represent everyone while continuing to honour those responsible for murder”.
Michelle O’Neill was among those in attendence in Bellaghy on Sunday, and fellow Sinn Fein MLA for Mid Ulster Emma Sheerin was the main speaker at the gathering.
Ms Sheerin posted about it online afterwards (as did several local branches of Sinn Fein) and she described McElwee as "the best of us”, saying “he gave his life on hunger strike for Ireland, and for us all”.
Mr Burrows said: “Emma Sheerin MLA has described Thomas McElwee as 'the best of us'.
"He was nothing of the kind.
"A man who burned a young mother to death was one of the worst of us, and no amount of eulogy will change that.
"Looking forward does not mean excusing terrorism, glorifying its perpetrators or disregarding the lifelong suffering of innocent victims and their families.”
Mr Dunlop (whose brothers Denis and Terry were aged eight and seven respectively when their mother was killed) said: “We just can’t understand why Sinn Fein continue to think it is OK to hurt our family.
"They claim one of their core policies is violence against women and girls.
"What about our mummy’s life – was it worth nothing because of what she happened to be born by birth?”
While the McElwee family “have the right to remember him” in private, Mr Dunlop accused Sinn Fein of “coat-trailing politically-motivated glorification which is passed off as remembrance”, adding: “Our mummy was precious to us and she was stolen away because of an ideology that placed no value on human life and more upon death.
"There’s something very sick and depraved with all of that."
Sinn Fein has been contacted for comment.
According to the book Lost Lives, Mrs Dunlop had been aged 27 when she died in an IRA bombing of her father’s shop, Alley Katz Boutique, in Ballymena’s Bridge Street, on October 9, 1976.
It was one of 16 linked firebomb attacks across the town, and McElwee was one of several IRA men convicted over the attacks.
According to the Bobby Sands Trust, McElwee’s conviction for her murder was later downgraded to manslaughter.
McElwee died, aged 23, on hunger strike in prison in 1981.
Sinn Fein’s Bellaghy branch wrote that those who were present at Sunday’s gathering to mark the 45th anniversary of his death heard “a very thoughtful and fitting oration reflecting on the impact of his sacrifice on the generations that followed”.