MEP: My ‘pikey’ comment was by Twitter hacker

IRELAND South MEP Alan Kelly has been asked to prove his official Labour party Twitter account was hacked, after a message from his online profile used the term “pikey” to refer to a member of the Travelling community.

The remark was made in an online message to 198 users sent out last night from the Brussels-based politician’s account.

At about 6pm yesterday, followers of Mr Kelly received a message update from the Munster representative’s personal account, described as “the official Twitter of Labour MEP for Munster”.

It read: “Just got stopped by a pikey, scuse me sir, ya haven’t seen a black mare and a white pony go by ave ya??? err no sorry”.

The offending message was deleted within an hour, after complaints by a number of Twitter users.

By 7pm, Mr Kelly posted a second update stating that his site had been “compromised”.

“Sincere apologies regarding the last post. My account was compromised and I am looking into it,” he wrote.

Responding to the situation, Martin Collins, acting director of Travelling community representative group Pavee Point, said the remark was “offensive, derogatory and bordering on racism”.

Mr Collins said while he was reserving judgment on who was responsible, it is up to Mr Kelly to obtain information from Twitter organisers confirming the account was “compromised”.

A Labour party spokesperson supported Mr Kelly’s explanation, stating the Ireland South MEP had been hacked.

When asked if the claim was convenient as it could not be verified independently, the spokesperson said: “It’s not convenient, it’s what happened.”

A spokesperson for Mr Kelly said the Munster politician will contact Twitter organisers in the coming days to find out if they can trace who hacked his account.