Sinn Féin MP accused of mocking Kingsmill massacre resigns

A Sinn Féin MP who caused outrage by posing with a Kingsmill-branded loaf on his head on the anniversary of the Kingsmill massacre has resigne

A screengrab of the video. Picture: Barry McElfduff/Twitter/PA

Abstentionst West Tyrone MP Barry McElduff, who had already been suspended by his party for three months, said staying in the job would have impeded efforts to forge reconciliation in Northern Ireland.

Mr McElduff reiterated his insistence that he had not meant the video as a reference to the sectarian murders of ten Protestant workmen by republican paramilitaries near the south Armagh village of Kingsmill in 1976.

He said his greatest regret was the “deep and unnecessary hurt” his video had caused. “I again offer my profound apology to those families and to the wider victims community,” he said.

The sole survivor of the attack, Alan Black, welcomed the resignation.

Mr Black said the fall-out from the Twitter video forced him to re-live the trauma of the attack in which he was shot 18 times.

Sinn Féin has faced criticism on both sides of the Irish border over the video.

West Tyrone is a very safe Sinn Féin seat and the party is likely to hold it in a by-election.