Failure to apologise for Kingsmills will make attendance at coronation a cynical 'vote expansion' exercise: former IRA member

In a blog post ahead of John Finucane’s expected attendance at the ‘South Armagh Volunteers Commemoration,’ Anthony McIntyre said Mr Finucane – who joined they party after the conflict ended – is “under no obligation” to justify IRA violence during the Troubles.

The MP for North Belfast is billed as the main speaker at the event in Mullaghbawn, which is as including “music, refreshments and kids entertainment”.

IRA members from the area committed some of the worst sectarian atrocities of the Troubles, including the murder of ten Protestant workmen at Kingsmills, and the murder of five men at Tullyvallen Orange Hall.

Mr McIntyre, an outspoken critic of Sinn Fein in recent years, posted his comments on his blog The Pensive Quill (TPQ).

“A failure by Sinn Fein to use the occasion for the very purpose of apologising to the Kingsmill massacre victims will point to the conclusion that it turning up to the coronation of King Charles, although dressed up in the language of respect for all the people of the North, was not an act of reconciliation but a vote expansion exercise,” he said.“First minister kept waiting Michelle O’Neill has insisted that everybody has the right to commemorate their dead. True, but how necessary or prudent is it to have John Finucane billed as the main speaker at the event?“When viewed through the prism of a community that experienced the horrors of that particular war crime inflicted on an unarmed civilian population, the words of Kenny Donaldson cannot be dismissed as distraction politics.Earlier this week, victims’ campaigner Mr Donaldson questioned how the MP, whose own father was murdered by loyalist terrorists, could “eulogise” IRA gunmen and bombers who also destroyed so many families.

Sinn Fein MLA Conor Murphy said the Mullaghbawn event in question has been taking place for more than a decade with little controversy.A Sinn Féin spokesperson said: “Everyone has the right to remember their dead with dignity and respect. We will continue to stand with families who have lost loved ones in the conflict.”