It has been labelled “vile” and “plain wrong”.
There has been widespread condemnation by politicians in Northern Ireland of a social media video appearing to show a group of people singing a song mocking the murder of Michaela McAreavey in Mauritius.
The video appears to show people in an Orange Hall singing about the murder of McAreavey, who was strangled in her hotel room in Mauritius while on honeymoon in 2011.
Politicians from all the main parties in Northern Ireland have condemned the video and those taking part in the singing.
DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson called the video “vile” and “plain wrong”, saying it was “deeply hurtful” to the family of Michaela McAreavey.
https://twitter.com/J_Donaldson_MP/status/1532636313274433536
Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie called it “abhorrent, disgusting and shameful”, while fellow party member Robbie Butler said he could “only imagine what this does to her poor family”.
SDLP’s Patsy McGlone, an MLA for Mid-Ulster, said the video is “about as base in humanity as you can go”.
Sinn Féin’s Michelle Gildernew wrote on Twitter that she had already made a police complaint about the video and “will be taking further action”.
Thank you to everyone who reported this to me tonight.
A beautiful young woman was murdered on honeymoon & this is how loyalists “celebrate” the Queen’s jubilee.
I have reported this to the PSNI & will be taking further action. @ChiefConPSNI https://t.co/SevHXbOlaA— Michelle Gildernew (@gildernewm) June 2, 2022
In a statement in response to the emergence of the video on Friday, a spokesperson for the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland said: “The video currently circulating on social media relating to the murder of Michaela McAreavey is utterly abhorrent and the Orange Institution condemns the content without reservation. The behaviour of those involved and their actions have no place in our society and certainly do not reflect the ethos of our organisation.
“The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland has instigated an inquiry into the incident and if any of those involved are found to be members of the Institution, they will face disciplinary proceedings.”
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