“Such attempts to romanticise the actions of the IRA are an insult to the families left bereaved and communities still dealing with the scars of violence.”
A DUP’s MLA has hit out at a tribute to the late IRA bomber Brendan ‘Bik’ McFarlane at a Féile an Phobail concert in the Falls Park on Sunday night. An image of McFarlane, who died in February of this year, was displayed on a screen on the stage during a performance at Let The People Sing on Sunday.
Brendan McFarlane was sentenced to life imprisonment in connection with the Bayardo Bar attack on Aberdeen Street in the Shankill area which killed five people and injured 60 others fifty years ago this week.
He went on to lead the Maze Prison escape in 1983, in which a prison officer died of a heart attack, and in later life, forged out a career as a musician on the Irish rebel scene.
“McFarlane was not a hero. He was a convicted terrorist who bore responsibility for murder and destruction, including his role in the Bayardo Bar bombing, which claimed the lives of five people and injured many more,” said North Belfast MLA Phillip Brett.
“Such attempts to romanticise the actions of the IRA are an insult to the families left bereaved and communities still dealing with the scars of violence.
“When Sinn Féin previously attempted to eulogise Brendan McFarlane, I set the record straight — and I will continue to stand up for victims every single time.
“Once again, much of the media has turned a blind eye to this glorification of terrorism, just as they too often do when the narrative suits republicanism. Victims deserve better than selective outrage and silence from those who claim to hold truth to account.
“We owe it to victims to tell the truth: Brendan McFarlane was part of a campaign of violence which devastated lives. No amount of music, speeches, or banners will erase that reality.”
TUV Deputy Leader Councillor Ron McDowell criticised the “double standards” of those who have remained silent on this while “vilifying” actions within loyalism.
“Let’s be clear – McFarlane was a sectarian killer linked to kidnapping, the death of a prison officer, and the murder of a soldier of the Irish state.
“Yet last night, he was honoured as a hero in West Belfast. Where is the outrage from those who pore over loyalist parades seeking real or imagined offences?
“Where is the condemnation from the Alliance Party – quick to wrongly blame an Orange Lodge for a GAA-linked event’s cancellation?
“Where is the SDLP, who spent the first fortnight of July straining at every gnat within loyalism?”
Cllr McDowell finished by saying that the TUV “will never shy away” from calling out “double standards”.
Féile an Phobail have been contacted for comment.
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