ELECTION SPECIAL
A VIDEO has emerged of a newly re-elected Sinn Féin TD shouting ‘up the ’Ra’ after he had secured more than 20,000 first-preference votes.
At the start of the video, Waterford deputy David Cullinane celebrates his victory before starting on a republican rant.
He said: ‘They didn’t break the hunger strikers, they didn’t break Bobby Sands and Kevin Lynch. They will never break us and they will never break Sinn Féin.’
Responding to outrage following the footage surfacing online, Mr Cullinane reportedly said that he would not apologise for his ‘depth of feeling’ toward the hunger strikers.
Speaking to The Irish Times, the TD also said he had never distanced himself from the IRA.
Mr Cullinane said: ‘I have never distanced myself from the IRA, or from Bobby Sands and the people who died on hunger strike, or for those who, over 100 years, were involved in the armed struggle. That is no secret.
I have no problem saying that.’ Later last night, he further clarified his remarks to the media saying that Sunday was an emotional day for him and other candidates nationwide.
‘Obviously we were very excited and very proud of the vote we got in Waterford,’ he said.
‘The 30-second clip was part of a broader and longer speech that I gave where I was reflecting back on the hunger strikes, reflecting back on the fact that Kevin Lynch stood in the Waterford constituency back in 1981. He was someone that inspired me and inspired many republicans, the comments were made in that context.
‘I know some people will think the comments were about the here and the now and the future; they weren’t. It was reflecting back on that time in Irish history that I’m proud of and those hunger strikers and it was, I suppose, part of the excitement of the night when we were celebrating that victory.
‘My comments were about the past, they were not about the future; the IRA is gone, as everybody knows.’
The Irish Daily Mail sought further comment from Mr Cullinane, but he had not responded last night at the time of going to press.
‘The IRA is gone, as everybody knows’