Sinn Féin member Phil Flanagan clarifies IS ‘are’ terrorists

A Sinn Féin member has insisted he believes Islamic State is a “terrorist” organisation after initially saying he was uncomfortable with the term because it “demonised” individual groups.

Stormont MLA Phil Flanagan and his party stressed last night he did not intend to give any impression of defending the organisation after being heavily criticised for the remarks to a newspaper in Northern Ireland.

Speaking to the Tyrone and Fermanagh-based Impartial Reporter newspaper, Mr Flanagan — who last courted controversy over comments he made about abuse survivor Máiría Cahill — said bombing Syria in response to last week’s atrocities in Paris “is not the answer” and other options need to be considered.