Unionist politician reacts to Mary Lou McDonald's claim that it is 'not reasonable' to ask Sinn Fein members about the IRA

Tom Elliott pointed out that a number of members of Sinn Fein were themselves active paramilitaries, and said that the Sinn Fein leader was attempting to “wish away” the IRA’s past.

Ms McDonald made the comments on an Irish podcast called 'Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning' on Monday.

She said: “The Free State establishment does have a difficulty, or a reluctance, or a refusal at key points in time to move on and actually accept that you don't ask somebody who was a baby in the 1970s about things that happened in the 1970s. That's not a reasonable proposition [Ms McDonald was herself born in 1969].

"It wouldn't be reasonably done with somebody from Fine Gael or Fianna Fail or the Labour Party, and it's not reasonable to approach people from Sinn Fein in that way...

"You can talk about history, and we should.

"You can talk about the past, and we should. But there is a distinction between that and holding people accountable personally for things that happened a very long time ago…

"As Sinn Fein has developed as a political force south of the border, you see those – and we'll see it now in the upcoming election – those who believe that they govern and others do not, now when they see the possibility of an alternative and a clear-cut choice for the first time in a century of an alternative government led by Sinn Fein, some of that stuff is just about fighting their corner.

"And they will use any and every argument to say [adopts a grave voice]: 'They are not fit to govern'."

Lord Elliott responded: “Obviously that’s Mary Lou McDonald trying to minimise the damage that the IRA caused to society, trying to wish it away – and that just doesn’t happen.

"There are still many, many people who are seriously hurt both physically and emotionally by what the IRA did, and Mary Lou just can’t wash it away like that.

"Let’s not forget – there are many people still in Sinn Fein who were active members of the IRA.

"I don’t accept Mary Lou’s comments or reflections on that at all.”