Remembrance Day plan adds to republican tensions

Victims of British Army atrocities in Ireland have denounced a decision by Sinn Féin’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill to attend a Remembrance Sunday event in Belfast this weekend.

Ms O’Neill is set to become the most senior Sinn Féin leader to attend the event, held every year to honour those who died for the British Crown. It is expected she will lay a wreath at the cenotaph in the grounds of Belfast city hall.

Her attendance at the event has upset relatives of people killed by the Crown forces, as well as those who gave their lives in the cause of Irish freedom.

The daughter of a man killed by a loyalist gang that included British soldiers has urged Ms O’Neill to reconsider.

Denise Mullen was aged just three when her father Denis was shot dead by by the notorious Glenanne Gang, which included members of the UDR, RUC and UVF, at the family home near Moy, Co Tyrone, in September 1975.

She sat at her father’s side until help arrived. Four people linked to the British military were involved in her father’s murder.

Ms Mullen, a member of Aontú, said a distinction can be made between those who died in World War One, including some of her own relatives, and others who lost their lives in more recent conflict.

“We are now in 2024, and money raised from selling poppies and other memorabilia now goes to UDR members and their families and I am assuming maybe RUC too,” she said.

Ms Mullen believes the Sinn Féin Stormont leader should reconsider attending.

She said bereaved families are “trying to go through a legal process of holding the British government to account about what the RUC and UDR did”.

A relative of Ms O’Neill, was also killed by the Crown Forces in one of scores of targeted ‘shoot-to-kill’ political assassinations.

She said she appreciated some republicans would be “uncomfortable” with her being there, but she insisted it was nevertheless the “right thing to do”.

“I thought it was important to take that invitation up because that for me is the fulfilment of my commitment to those people out there from a British and unionist identity who hold this important Remembrance Day very carefully to their own heart,” she said.

“So, for me, this is about acknowledgement of loss, but it’s also about being respectful to all those people out there and fulfilling my commitment to be First Minister for all.”

In 2016, the late Martin McGuinness, who was then deputy first minister, visited two First World War battle sites – the Somme in France and Flanders in Belgium. The former IRA commander turned political leader said the visits were made in the “spirit of reconciliation”.

Until now, the party’s leadership has declined to participate in Remembrance Sunday ceremonies in the north, previously citing concerns about British military and loyalist trappings which are typically on show at such events.

Other victims, such as Pat Irvine, the daughter of Kathleen Irvine, killed in the McGurks massacre, said: “Whether they’re Republican or not, they’ve forgotten the people who voted for them, as for Victims families, they’ve forgotten us too.

Former IRA prisoners such as Tim Brannigan also condemned the move, The author and journalist described it as “a betrayal”, and pointed to the increasing reluctance of Sinn Féin Ministers to attend republican commemorations.

“O’Neill is paid by the Brits, boycotts IRA commemorations, but is driven to honour the British Army by her cop minders on Poppy Day?

“Not one of the young IRA volunteers who bravely fought and died gave their lives for this. An historic betrayal.”

Ms O’Neill denied her announcement was an attempt to shift the focus away from the party’s internal difficulties.

“I’m going to have no truck with that,” she said of the suggestion. “I took this initiative because I believe it’s the right thing to do.”

Sinn Féin is under pressure in the North following a series of scandals involving children. The latest has seen senior Belfast councillor JJ Magee suspended without prejudice by the party following allegations that he exchanged inappropriate online messages with a minor.

A complaint had been made to the PSNI five months ago, but Magee was only suspended by the party on Sunday night. Sinn Féin said it made social services and the PSNI aware of the messages after it learned of the issue. The PSNI said it received a report in June but “no criminal offences were detected”.

The 61-year-old, who sits on the ‘Policing and Community Safety Partnership’ in north Belfast, has been a polarising figure for republicans throughout the peace process, frequently attacking those who disagreed with Sinn Féin’s political direction. He denies “any allegation of inappropriate conduct”.

The news of Magee’s suspension is just the latest in a series of damaging incidents for Sinn Féin in the North. It emerged that former Mayor of Belfast Niall Ó Donnghaile resigned from the party over inappropriate messages sent to a 16-year-old. He controversially received a glowing tribute from the party leadership which claimed he had resigned from the party for health reasons.

In September, two Sinn Féin press officers resigned when it came to light they had provided references to their former colleague Michael McMonagle, who subsequently admitted a raft of child sex offences. He worked for his new employers at political events alongside Sinn Féin figures, despite being under police investigation at the time.

Traditional republicans have been repeating long-standing allegations that the party organisation has been compromised, with some now referring to the peace process as the “paedo process”.

Ms O’Neill promised to “work hard to ensure that we have the public’s trust and to build back anything that perhaps we may have lost”.

Asked by journalists if she was aware of any other allegations in relation to other party figures that are not already in the public domain, Ms O’Neill said she was not.

Urgent Appeal