Sinn Fein councillor in Queen tweet row

He is the second Londonderry councillor to become embroiled in a row over comments posted on the internet.

Last week, SDLP councillor Jim Carr aroused the anger of Sinn Fein when, among other remarks, he mocked a Scottish councillor’s accent and said subtitles were needed to understand him.

Later, Councillor Carr made an unreserved apology to Councillor Eric McGinley. The SDLP also sanctioned him by removing the party whip.

While a major security operation was underway in the Brandywell area on Sunday night, the Sinn Fein councillor posted comments making fun of the Queen’s medical condition.

He wrote: ‘The english queen has diarrhoea and it “runs” as the headline story on sky news. Various contributors interviewed talking s#i#e!’

Former DUP mayor, Maurice Devenney described the comments as “disrespectful, disgraceful, insulting and totally inappropriate”.

He added: “Not only is this councillor trying to publicly denigrate and insult Her Majesty, he is also using a public platform to attack an 86-year-old woman and make fun of her medical condition.

“This sort of behaviour from a party that talks about inclusivity and equality shows that their actions do not measure up to their words.

“I think Sinn Fein needs to deal with this sort of behaviour and I would expect Councillor O’Hagan to make a full apology for his disrespectful, disgraceful, insulting and totally inappropriate behaviour. I’m sure he would react badly to anyone insulting his elderly relatives like that.”

Alderman Devenney also said Councillor O’Hagan’s action contrasted with Martin McGuinness’s decision to shake the Queen’s hand during her visit to Stormont during the Jubilee celebrations.

The controversial tweet came after senior Sinn Fein member used a SF youth conference to try to assure unionists their identifty would be respected. Sinn Fein was asked to comment but by time of going to press had not done so.