Mr Irwin said,
“It is appalling to see young people being led in singing about the IRA as if they are singing about a football team. The IRA were murderers and tormented thousands of people in Northern Ireland but also ruined Newry with bombs and bullets. Indeed, as these people were posting this video on social media, exactly 39 years earlier at the same time patients in St Luke’s Hospital in Armagh were being treated for injuries after the hospital was damaged by an IRA rocket attack in the area.
Sinn Fein’s leadership must take responsibility for misleading young people about the IRA. Michelle O’Neill must take responsibly for misleading people to believe the IRA had “no alternative”. Such statements will lead the next generation to make the mistakes of previous generations.
I am focused on the future; I want to see the gun and bomb removed from Northern Ireland but those who glorify terrorists and rewrite the past make it more difficult for Northern Ireland to move forward.”