- Barry McElduff quit as MP after posting video of him balancing loaf on his head
- Clip was condemned as a reference to 1976 Kingsmill massacre by the IRA
- The politician has insisted the insensitive post was not intended to be offensive
A Sinn Fein MP who posted a video of himself balancing a loaf of bread on his head on the anniversary of the Kingsmill massacre today resigned from the Commons.
Barry McElduff has quit despite insisting the insensitive post was not intended as a reference to the republican murders of ten Protestant workmen on January 5, 1976 in County Armagh.
The Kingsmill brand is popular in Northern Ireland and shares its name with the village where one of the most notorious incidents of the Troubles took place.
Mr McElduff had already apologised ‘unreservedly’ for the video, and was last week suspended by his party for three months.
Barry McElduff said the insensitive post (left) was not intended as a reference to the republican murders of ten Protestant workmen on January 5, 1976
In a statement today, he said he had now decided to quit as an abstentionist member of parliament for West Tyrone.
‘It is with great sadness that, after more than 30 years as an active Sinn Fein member and public representative I am tendering my resignation as MP for West Tyrone,’ he said
‘The reason I am doing so is because of the consequences of the Twitter video which has caused such controversy over the last week.’
Mr McElduff reiterated his insistence that he had not meant the video as a reference to the sectarian murders of 10 protestant workmen by republican paramilitaries near the south Armagh village of Kingsmill in 1976.
He said his greatest regret was the ‘deep and unnecessary hurt’ his video had caused the Kingsmill families.
‘I again offer my profound apology to those families and to the wider victims community,’ he added.
‘Had I been conscious of the connection to the terrible atrocity at Kingsmill I would certainly not have posted that tweet. I genuinely did not make that connection, not for a second did I make that connection in my mind.
‘Kingsmill was wrong, unjustifiable and sectarian. It should never have happened.
The extent of Mr McElduff’s original punishment by Sinn Fein – a three-month suspension while still being paid – was widely criticised by unionists.
Kingsmill victims: L-R top – Robert Chambers, John Bryans, Joseph Lemon and Joseph McWhirter. L-R bottom – Walter Chapman, John McConville, Kenneth Wharton and Reggie Chapman, who all died in the massacre
Cold-blooded IRA attack that left just one survivor… who was shot 18 times
The Kingsmill massacre took place January 5, 1976 near the village of Kingsmill in south County Armagh, Northern Ireland.
Gunmen stopped a minibus carrying 12 textile workers, 11 of whom were Protestant and one of whom was Catholic.
After the terrorists asked who on the bus was Catholic, the workers assumed that the gunmen were loyalists and tried to conceal the Catholic’s identity.
Brutal: The minibus carrying the textile factory workers is left peppered with bullet holes and blood stains the ground after the massacre, as detectives patrol the scene of the murders
But after the Catholic was identified he was told to leave the bus and not to look back.
The 11 Protestants were all shot. Just one survived, despite being shot 18 times.
The South Armagh Republicans claimed responsibility and said the killings were in response to attacks on Catholic civilians.
The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) had murdered six Catholics the previous night in the Reavey and O’Dowd killings. After the Kingsmill massacre, Protestant leader Ian Paisley accused Eugene Reavey of organising the murders in retaliation.
Devastation: A window on the workers’ minibus is left smashed by a bullet after the terrorists lined up their victims and executed them outside their vehicle
The Kingsmill massacre was the deadliest mass shooting of The Troubles in the 1970s.
In 2007 it emerged that the UVF members behind the Reavey and O’Down killings had planned to murder at least 30 Catholic school pupils in retaliation for the Kingsmill attack.
A 2011 report found the attack was carried out by Provisional IRA, despite the group being on ceasefire. It is believed they acted without sanction of the IRA Army Council.