MLA 'glad' Lola Petticrew didn't have to live through Troubles - after actress award winner claims 'system' designed to prevent survival of West Belfast children
Robbie Butler has said he is glad a Northern Ireland actress didn’t have to go through what he did as a child – after Lola Petticrew claimed the “system” is not designed for children from West Belfast to survive.
The 30 year old TV star made the comments at an awards ceremony in Dublin, as she picked up a Lead Actress gong – denouncing “Britain’s hand in Ireland”.
However, the comments have prompted criticism from the Ulster Unionist MLA – who posted his own experience of the IRA’s reign of terror on social media.
Mr Butler said that when he visited his grandparents in Springmartin West Belfast in the late 70s, 80s and even early 90s, he was “told to lie or duck down in the back of the car as we drove through republican-controlled areas incase the IRA ‘got us’. Our crime was being Protestants driving to see our family”.
The Lagan Valley MLA added: “thankfully the Belfast Agreement came, the principle of consent was established and the surrender of those committed to violence was won”.
He added: “I'm glad Lola didn't have to grow up with what my family and I did”.
Referring to criticism of his post, the UUP man said: “Good grief. The temerity to share my own lived experience of a period of history has unleashed quite the response and attempted revisal [sic] of my familial experience”.
Stars had applauded Lola Petticrew as she dedicated the win to children in West Belfast.
“I'm under no illusion that a lot of the reason that I'm here is because of luck, and that is not negating any of my hard work. I work really hard, but the system is not designed for kids where I'm from to survive, let alone thrive”, the West Belfast actor said.
“One in three kids in West Belfast live in poverty. That is the legacy of the war. That is the legacy of Britain's hand in Ireland, and that is a political violence”, Lola Petticrew added.
The post attracted criticism, including from the commentator and campaigner Máiría Cahill. She posted in response: “I'm from the same place. There's a wee bit more to it than ‘Britain's hand in Ireland’, which Lola hardly saw, given she was born three years before the Agreement”.
The West Belfast actress identifies her gender identity as non-binary.