DUP Welcomes Barry McElduff Resignation

DUP Leader Arlene Foster has said that it was right for Sinn Féin's Barry McElduff to resign.

Mr McElduff has been at the centre of a controversy after a video was posted online on the anniversary of the Kingsmill massacre.

The former West Tyrone MP said he was stepping down "because of the consequences of the Twitter video which has caused such controversy over the last week".

"The deep and unnecessary hurt this video caused the families of the victims of Kingsmill is my greatest regret," he said.

Welcoming the announcement, Mrs Foster said: "It is right that Barry McElduff has resigned. He was not fit for public office and should have resigned in the immediate aftermath of posting the disgraceful video mocking and insulting the horrific terrorist events at Kingsmill.

"Over the course of the last ten days Sinn Féin has failed to deal with the McElduff situation. By merely suspending him and continuing to pay him they compounded his disgraceful actions and demonstrated a lack of respect and compassion for the victims of Kingmill and indeed victims more widely. Sinn Féin got this badly wrong.

"Now is the time for Sinn Féin to learn the lessons from these dark events and to deal with the fact that it, and many of its individual members, continue to publicly glorify the murderous deeds of the past. This needs to end if we are to build a future based on integrity and respect. Sinn Féin has much work to do to demonstrate they have truly learned from these events."

(MH/JP)