Sinn Féin MP McElduff resigns: Belated gesture

The announcement yesterday that Sinn Féin MP Barry McElduff had resigned, 10 days after he posted a dreadful, bigoted video on Twitter on the anniversary of the Kingsmill massacre, is as belated as his resignation statement is implausible.

The announcement yesterday that Sinn Féin MP Barry McElduff had resigned, 10 days after he posted a dreadful, bigoted video on Twitter on the anniversary of the Kingsmill massacre, is as belated as his resignation statement is implausible.

Whether he reached this decision by himself, or with the help of party advisors, is worth considering.

The party responded initially by suspending McElduff, but, as the reaction to his callous taunting grew, that sanction looked more like a keep-them-quiet sop than an informed, defendable response.

McElduff’s assertion, that he was not fully aware of the connection to the Kingsmill massacre anniversary, when he posted his taunt, stretches credibility beyond breaking point.

Why else would he do it? Coincidence?

It will be interesting, too, to see how his successor is selected.

Will that person be appointed as Michelle O’Neill was in the North, and as Mary Lou McDonald seems set to be in the Republic?

Sinn Féin might be many things, but this shameful episode shows, again, what it is not — a democratic political party with a moral compass.