DUP tells Deirdre Hargey to clarify stance on sports clubs celebrating terrorism

DUP deputy leader Paula Bradley said it was “disappointing” that a GAA club hosted a memorial to IRA members from East Tyrone last Saturday at an event attended by Michelle O’Neill.

Controversy erupted after pictures emerged on Twitter from Sinn Fein’s youth wing showing the Sinn Fein vice president at a monument in the grounds of the Clonoe O’Rahilly’s GAA club in Coalisland.

The event took place 48 hours before the deputy first minister tweeted that she had Covid.

In her tweet on Monday responding to news about the death of DUP MLA Christopher Stalford, Ms O’Neill wrote: “Sitting at home (due to covid) watching the tributes to Christopher Stalford. I’m struck by the shared sense of loss across the political spectrum. I am reminded that there is far more that unites us than divides us. Rest in peace Christopher.”

The memorial stone unveiled at the event commemorates IRA members Peter Clancy, Hugh Gerard Coney and Brian Campbell. The engraved words beneath photographs of the trio states: “Erected by Clonoe O’Rahilly’s, In Proud Memory of Our Fallen Gaels, Never Forgotten.”

Brian Campbell was 19 when he was shot dead by SAS soldiers on the Clonoe Road in Coalisland in 1983.

Peter Clancy, 19, was one of four men killed in 1992 by the SAS when the special forces soldiers opened fire on an IRA unit armed with mounted 12.7mm Russian made heavy machine that they were about to fire on Coalisland police station.

IRA internee Hugh Gerard Coney, 24, was shot dead while attempting to escape Long Kesh prison in 1974.

A number of victims’ organisations have criticised Ms O’Neill for attending the event and the GAA club for the memorial at their premises.

Ms Bradley said: “Those commemorated at this event are defined not by the fact they were members of a GAA club but by their participation in terrorist attacks. That definition is crystallised by a memorial which highlights their status as ‘volunteers’ above anything else.

“This isn’t about a community reflecting or remembering anyone, but is part of a continued attempt to normalise the activities of the IRA. It is particularly disappointing that GAA clubs continue to associate themselves with attempts to promote such a warped view of history.”

On the communities minister, Ms Bradley added: “She should make the position of her department clear about sports clubs aligning themselves with people who have engaged in terrorism. She should also spell out the implications for such clubs in relation to public funding.”

Axel Schmidt, advocacy manager with Ulster Human Rights Watch, said: “In a democratic society, there can be no place for the glorification and justification of terrorism. The actions of those who were engaged in acts of terrorism with the intent to murder and inflict pain and suffering on innocent people were a blatant violation of human rights.”

Earlier this week the News Letter invited Sinn Fein, the GAA club, GAA Ulster and the GAA headquarters at Croke Park to respond. None offered any comment.