Arlene Foster has criticised a commemoration for an IRA man suspected of involvement in a murder attempt on her late father.
The event was hosted to mark the 35th anniversary of the 26-year-old’s killing by SAS members as they intercepted an IRA landmine bid near Rosslea in Co Fermanagh.
Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy gave an address at the online tribute event for Seamus McElwaine on Monday night.
Mr Carthy described the IRA man as an “ordinary Irish country lad” who was “killed in his own country by foreign occupying forces”.
He said the commemoration of a man who was held in “huge esteem” did not seek to ignore the pain caused by IRA actions during the Troubles.
Mrs Foster’s police officer father John Kelly survived an IRA murder bid at their Fermanagh home in 1979 despite being shot in the head. Seamus McElwaine was suspected of involvement.
The DUP leader was asked about the commemoration event for the IRA man on a visit to a youth centre in Belfast on Tuesday.
“My thoughts on Seamus McElwaine are the same as they were when he tried to murder my father when I was eight-and-a-half years old,” she said.
“He’s an evil, sectarian killer. He was about to commit murder again when he was shot by Crown forces.
“He was evil. He was sectarian and he murdered many people along the Fermanagh border and I don’t think there’s any role for politicians who are supposed to be democratic politicians to be celebrating the life of somebody like that.”
Mrs Foster has previously spoken of the personal challenge she faced sharing power with the late Martin McGuinness, given he delivered the oration at the funeral of Seamus McElwaine.
