11/08/2026
UUP Leader Condemns O'Neill's Attendance At IRA Hunger Strikers Commemoration
Ulster Unionist Party leader Jon Burrows MLA has condemned First Minister Michelle O'Neill for attending a commemoration for IRA hunger strikers, among them Thomas McElwee, whose firebomb attack killed Ballymena mother-of-three Yvonne Dunlop.
Mrs Dunlop, aged 26, died in her family's Ballymena shop on 9 October 1976. McElwee was convicted in relation to her death and later died on hunger strike in 1981.
Jon Burrows said: "This is atrocious conduct from a First Minister who asks to be judged as a First Minister for all. Standing at a commemoration that honours Thomas McElwee is not the conduct of a First Minister for all, and it has inflicted fresh hurt on a family who have already lost everything.
"Yvonne Dunlop was 26 years old. She died in her family's shop in Ballymena, and her children have lived with that loss every day since.
"Emma Sheerin MLA has described Thomas McElwee as 'the best of us'. He was nothing of the kind. A man who burned a young mother to death was one of the worst of us, and no amount of eulogy will change that.
"Looking forward does not mean excusing terrorism, glorifying its perpetrators or disregarding the lifelong suffering of innocent victims and their families.
"Sinn Féin cannot credibly claim to represent everyone while continuing to honour those responsible for murder.
"We should honour the victims, not the victim makers. My thoughts are with the family of Yvonne Dunlop."
Mrs Dunlop, aged 26, died in her family's Ballymena shop on 9 October 1976. McElwee was convicted in relation to her death and later died on hunger strike in 1981.
Jon Burrows said: "This is atrocious conduct from a First Minister who asks to be judged as a First Minister for all. Standing at a commemoration that honours Thomas McElwee is not the conduct of a First Minister for all, and it has inflicted fresh hurt on a family who have already lost everything.
"Emma Sheerin MLA has described Thomas McElwee as 'the best of us'. He was nothing of the kind. A man who burned a young mother to death was one of the worst of us, and no amount of eulogy will change that.
"Looking forward does not mean excusing terrorism, glorifying its perpetrators or disregarding the lifelong suffering of innocent victims and their families.
"Sinn Féin cannot credibly claim to represent everyone while continuing to honour those responsible for murder.
"We should honour the victims, not the victim makers. My thoughts are with the family of Yvonne Dunlop."
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Ulster Unionist Party leader Jon Burrows MLA has condemned First Minister Michelle O'Neill for attending a commemoration for IRA hunger strikers, among them Thomas McElwee, whose firebomb attack killed Ballymena mother-of-three Yvonne Dunlop. Mrs Dunlop, aged 26, died in her family's Ballymena shop on 9 October 1976.
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