Northern Ireland

Sinn Féin removes thousands of media statements from its website

Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald. Picture by Brian Lawless, Press Association
Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald. Picture by Brian Lawless, Press Association Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald. Picture by Brian Lawless, Press Association

SINN Féin has removed thousands of media statements dating back almost two decades from its website, according to reports.

The Sunday Independent revealed that the party has deleted comments, including by leader Mary Lou McDonald and former leader Gerry Adams, amid controversy over Sinn Féin's previous calls for Nato to be abolished.

The newspaper reported that the newsroom section of the party's website had around 370 pages, compared to more than 2,500 in December.

The statements which have been deleted include one from Ms McDonald in March 2018 in which she described then taoiseach Leo Varadkar's decision to expel a Russian diplomat over the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in England as a "flagrant disregard for Irish neutrality".

Another deleted statement referred to former foreign affairs spokesman Sean Crowe's call in 2014 for the abolition of Nato.

Mr Crowe had said the military alliance, formed in 1949, was "nothing more than a Cold War relic that needs to be disbanded".

Ukraine is not a member of Nato. However, Nato members including the UK are already sending weapons to help Ukraine fight the Russian invasion.

A Sinn Féin spokesman said last month it believes that "reversing Ireland's policy of neutrality, or involvement in military blocs such as Nato or Pesco, is not in our interests".

On Sunday night a Sinn Féin spokesperson said: “We are currently in the process of building a new website and archiving outdated content.”