Sinn Fein MLA lauds IRA who ‘sought to kill’ in Christmas message

In a video posted on Twitter on Monday night, West Belfast representative Orlaithi Flynn – who was 10-years-old when the Belfast Agreement was signed – said it is the responsibility of the next generation to “fulfil the promises made by past generations”.

She said: “We remember the sacrifice and commitment of those who went before us every single day, but at Christmas we particularly pause to remember.

“With every passing year it falls to the next generation to fulfil the promises made by past generations.”

Ms Flynn was Sinn Fein’s replacement MLA for Jennifer McCann when she stood down in December 2016 and is the party’s spokesperson for mental health.

In the video, Ms Flynn also describes republican prisoners as having been “forced to resort to hunger strike” in 1980 and 1981, and talks about the “awful conditions they were forced to live in”.

DUP MLA Gordon Lyons was one of hundreds of people who responded to the video.

“Another generation lauding the evil actions of terrorists and not a word about innocent victims and the many Christmases that were taken from them and their families,” he said.

“Time to build a better NI, looking forward rather than celebrating those who sought to kill and destroy.”

Former Antrim and Newtownabbey Ulster Unionist councillor Stephen McCarthy, who was raised Catholic in the Falls area of Belfast and whose grandfather was killed by loyalists, also expressed his dismay at the message.

He said: “This Christmas I’ll be remembering the significantly more numerous innocent fallen from our road, Órlaithí. The same innocents that so often paid the price for the actions of your comrades – the vast majority of whom were back round the tree with their families after 1998.”

READ: Family’s anger as Sinn Fein appoints bomber’s daughter as MLA

READ: Sinn Fein not committed to exclusively peaceful and democratic means, say DUP peers

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