Arlene Foster says Sinn Féin sending 'alarming' example to young people by attending commemoration

Former Northern Ireland First Minister Baroness Arlene Foster says the attendance of senior members of Sinn Fein at "glorifying events" sends an alarming message to young people in Northern Ireland.

North Belfast MP John Finucane is set to attend an event billed as the South Armagh Volunteers Commemoration this weekend, which victims' representatives have said will commemorate the actions of the IRA during the Troubles.

"We're still struggling with legacy today, and when I see people continuing to glorify some of the things that happened in the '70s and '80s today, it's not just about the past, and it's not just about remembering our dead," Ms Foster told the NI Affairs Committee.

"It is actually about sending a message to young people today, that what happened in the past was OK, and what happened in the past was somehow justified, and it wasn't justified.

"And whether you are a loyalist paramilitary or republican paramilitary, taking up arms is always wrong, and therefore, I do get very concerned when senior members of Sinn Fein are involved in glorifying events as we know is going to happen very soon.

"And I think it sends a really difficult message to law abiding citizens right across Northern Ireland, and sends for me an alarming message to young people in Northern Ireland.

"And we talk about reconciliation, chair and the difficult conversations about reconciliation still need to happen in Northern Ireland, and when you see that sort of thing happening, with a Sinn Fein MP going to a glorification, a 'family fun day' - it's wrong and it has to be called out."

Arlene Foster also told the committee republican politicians attending commemorative events results in the "normalisation of violence".

"I hope that in any talks or negotiations, which I won't be involved in, I hope there is a strong focus on not sending negative messages to the past, to the future, which result in violence, which results in the normalisation of violence and results in people thinking it's OK to come up and say to a victim 'Oo ah up the ra'," Lady Foster said, reciting a divisive sectarian chant.

"That's wrong, and I think we really have a problem around the glorification of terrorism in Northern Ireland, and we can ignore it and it will continue, or we can deal with it."

At an awards ceremony in Belfast, Baroness Foster – whose father was shot by the IRA – had a woman film herself chanting the phrase at her.

Lady Foster also said she would be equally critical of a unionist politician attending an event commemorating a loyalist paramilitary group.

"I have said that very, very clearly, if a member of the Democratic Unionist Party was going along to honour UVF volunteers, I would be equally as outraged as I am about a member of Sinn Fein going along to honour IRA volunteers, it is wrong.

"Now people will say, 'oh, you met somebody from the UVF in the past'. Yes, I also met somebody from the IRA in the past - doesn't mean that I'm glorifying what they did.

"Because, let me say this, loyalist paramilitaries are weighing down heavily on loyalist communities in Belfast in particular at the moment, and using power to control those areas and those young people in a horrific way.

"Therefore glorifying these people, whether they're from the loyalist community or whether they're from the Republican community is wrong, and we have to break that cycle," the former first minister added.

Sinn Fein MLA Conor Murphy said the focus on the commemorative event in Armagh was a DUP attempt at "distraction politics".

"All parties here have attended commemorative events," he said after meeting with Irish deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin in Belfast.

"Every single party has attended commemorative events, be that British Army ones, be that in Dublin at the 1916 rising, all parties have been involved with commemorative events over the last 30 years.

"Everybody has the right and that recognises the fact that everybody has the right to commemorate their dead in a dignified way, and we support everyone's right to commemorate their dead in a dignified way.

"The particular event that you're talking about has now been going for, I think, 13 years perhaps, certainly well over a decade, it has been spoken at by MPs, by TDs, by ministers.

"We couldn't as much as get a local photographer to come along to take pictures at it but the DUP have made of an issue out of it, and then now apparently it's an issue for the media as well.

"The fact is that I think what we're in here is distraction politics.

"The real issue here is the fact that public services are crashing around our ears, that the DUP are refusing to go back into the executive to try and help the rest of us fix the very real problems that people face in everyday lives.

"But, yet, we have a situation now where a commemorative event which has taken place annually for well over a decade and has involved high-profile Sinn Fein speakers is now an issue."

Alliance MLA Nuala McAllister also challenged Sinn Fein over the planned attendance at the commemoration.

Ms McAllister was asked about the controversy after she attended a meeting Mr Martin.

"I think to be honest there's a mistake here made by Sinn Fein, particularly whenever we talk about commemorating our dead or reflecting on the past, it's important that we do not glorify terrorism," she said.

"That's the reality that we are seeing this coming weekend. Those families and victims of any atrocities in our past don't want to see that repeated, but they don't also want to see that their loved ones' lives that were affected or lost are now in this state of glorification of terrorism.

"So, yes, I think Sinn Fein should reflect and perhaps they should see what they are doing as causing harm to victims."

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