Arlene Foster condemns 'depraved' Sinn Fein MP after Kingsmill tweet on massacre anniversary
2 min read
A Sinn Fein MP has been condemned after he was accused of mocking the killing of ten Protestant workmen by the IRA in the 1970s.
Barry McElduff prompted outrage after he tweeted a video of himself with a loaf of Kingsmill bread on his head on the 42nd anniversary of republican terrorists murdering a group of workers in the town of Kingsmill, County Armagh.
The West Tyrone MP has since deleted the tweet, insisting he had no intention of offending families affected by the 1976 massacre - which saw several rounds fired on the men in retaliation for a loyalist attack on Catholics.
The message was met by a flurry of criticism from politicians on both sides of the divide in Northern Ireland, with DUP leader Arlene Foster condemning the message as “depraved” while nationalist SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan said the video “crossed a line”.
Former first minister Ms Foster, whose father was shot by the IRA tweeted that she felt sorry for the constituents of Mr McElduff.
The Sinn Fein MP said he "had not realised or imagined for a second" that the gag - which involved him walking around a shop with a loaf on his head while asking where the bread was kept - could be interpreted as linked to the attack.
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