TUV chairman Ivor McConnell has expressed outrage after DUP Upper Bann Chaplain Bob Morrow was clearly heard to defend Gerry Adams at the launch of the Eames-Bradley report yesterday.

Mr McConnell said:

“On a video posted online Mr Morrow can be clearly seen and head to say, “Cedric, we are all victims” when Gerry Adams was being rightly barracked for attending the launch of a document which was supposed to be about addressing the needs of victims.

“Even by the standards of the DUP, this is a new low. How can we expect to take Nigel Dodds’s comments in the Commons yesterday seriously when a party member back in Belfast was clearly seen and heard to defend Gerry Adams’s interpretation of what a victim is? Of course, many people will have recognised the reality that Mr Dodds was somewhat hypocritical in his remarks because the DUP have accepted a form of devolution which means they are powerless to change the definition of victim contained within the 2006 Victims and Survivors Order. Indeed, the DUP leader as First Minister jointly heads an office which operates in accordance with the Order meaning that terrorists killed while engaged in their evil acts are put in the same bracket as innocent victims.

“But back to Bob Morrow. Here we have a prominent figure in the DUP in Upper Bann who has been seen and heard to publically defend Gerry Adams and his position on the 2006 Order. This raises a number of questions for the party. Do they support Mr Morrow’s comments? As well as defending Sinn Fein/IRA’s place in government on an almost daily basis are they happy for someone who believes that IRA terrorists can be victims to hold office within their party?

“Anyone who has had heard Bob Morrow express his position on the current setup at Stormont will doubtless have heard him mention his time in the security forces. Mr Morrow is not alone in repeatedly using this fact as some sort of defence of his position on terrorists in government. One wonders what those who served alongside Mr Morrow make of his comments yesterday.

“Bob Morrow should immediately apologise for his disgusting comments. Expulsion from the DUP must also follow. And then the DUP will face questions about what they will do to change the 2006 Order. Failure to do so will suggest to many people that Mr Morrow has revealed the true feeling within the party.”

Note to editors: Mr Morrow’s comments can be viewed here 3 minutes and 27 seconds into the video
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/video.aspx?VideoPath=BELF/eames%201512k_stream.wmv&VideoID=31042&ArticleID=4921670