‘Sorry Martina, your apology is worthless’ says man orphaned by IRA

The son of a Co Down digger driver orphaned by the IRA has described Martina Anderson’s apology to victims as an “insincere smokescreen” of “zero value”.
By Mark Rainey
Published 27th Aug 2020, 06:15 BST
Updated 27th Aug 2020, 18:30 BST
Martina Anderson and Sammy HeenanMartina Anderson and Sammy Heenan
Martina Anderson and Sammy Heenan

Sinn Fein MLA Ms Anderson provoked widespread anger on Tuesday evening with a Twitter message alleging the new Troubles pension payments would go mainly to those who “fought Britain’s dirty war’ in Ireland.

She later deleted the message and on Wednesday morning issued an apology – describing the tweet as “clumsy”.

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The message said: “I apologise unreservedly for the hurt and offence caused by my tweet to people who suffered serious harm during the conflict here. My comments were clumsy and were not directed at them and it was never my intention to cause them any hurt.” Sammy Heenan was aged 12 when his widower father William was shot dead at the family home near Castlewellan in 1985. The IRA falsely claimed he was a member of the security forces.

Responding to Ms Anderson’s apology, Mr Heenan said: “It is only a facade and a smokescreen. I do not see her apology as sincere. For me, her apology had zero value and was only a PR exercise from the Sinn Fein spin machine.”

Mr Heenan also called for Ms Anderson to step down as a public representative.

“I would call for her to resign because what she has said surely breaches any code of conduct for an MLA. She caused further trauma to innocent victims.

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“Martina Anderson has nailed her colours to the mast many times in both her words and her deeds. I think this is a situation where her political masters have attempted to mitigate her ruthless, verbal thuggery,” he added.

Meanwhile, a leading victims’ organisation has asked the PSNI to investigate Ms Anderson’s original message as a possible hate crime.

Innocent Victims United (IVU) said her remarks about Troubles victims were “premeditated” – and not “clumsy” as claimed by the Sinn Fein MLA when she later apologised.

IVU spokesman Kenny Donaldson said: “Sanctions must follow upon Martina Anderson – from the NI Assembly Commissioner for Standards and also from Sinn Fein.

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“We have also issued a formal complaint to the PSNI and asked that they investigate Martina Anderson’s actions and whether there are breaches around hate speech and also the alleged misuse of an electronic communication method.”

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