Thomas McElwee row: Sinn Fein under fire for ‘commemorating bomber but not his victim’ - 27-year-old mother-of-three Yvonne Dunlop

Twenty-three-year-old Thomas McElwee from Tamlaghyduff, about 13 miles west of Ballymena, died in the Maze hunger strikes on August 8 in 1981.

On October 9, 1976 one of his fire bombs killed Yvonne Dunlop, a 27-year-old mother-of-three from Ballymena. She died in a fire bomb explosion in the boutique owned by her father’s clothes shop in the town.

Reference work Lost Lives reports that she was checking a shopping bag left by two girls when the fire bomb went off. She only just had time to shout a warning to her nine-year-old son who was with her, but she herself was unable to escape.

Her mother said later: “Yvonne knew I would soon be arriving to take over from her in the boutique. She had just gone to the back of the shop when she shouted: ‘There’s a bomb, get out’. Then suddenly the whole place burst into flames. Her son escaped with just his hair singed but my daughter didn’t have a chance.”A list of targets was found in a coat in McElwee’s car. He pleaded guilty to owning the coat and the bomb and was sentenced to 20 years for the murder and another 20 years for possession of explosives.

On Sunday Sinn Fein commemorated his death in a tweet with a video presentation.

“40 years ago today, at 11am, Óglach Thomas McElwee from Bellaghy died after 62 days on hunger strike in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh. He was a political prisoner; unbowed and unbroken. This is his story.”

The video narration describes him as “a political prisoner determined to stand up for his comrades and the republican struggle”.

It added: “Tom was 23-years-old when he died... He came from a close knit family in Bellaghy and was admired by all his comrades as someone who instilled confidence and belief in those around him.

“Tom was a typical young Co Derry man, kind and good natured, full of life and with a craze for cars and stock car racing and also filled with a love of his country and his way of life.”

Sinn Fein Vice President Michelle O’Neill added: “Today marks the 40th anniversary of the death of Tom McElwee after 62 days on hunger strike” and then in Irish - “He died for Irish Freedom”.

The Sinn Fein tweet prompted almost 300 comments while Michelle O’Neill’s prompted almost 60. They were almost unanimously scathing of the fact that the party had airbrushed Yvonne Dunlop - and her son who ran for his life while she burnt to death - out of the story, pressing for explanations as to how this party can unify the island of Ireland.

Unusually, even Sinn Fein supporters were almost entirely silent.

Dubliner 1, a retired Irish soldier, tweeted: “Still commemorating murderers? This particular murderer burnt an innocent woman alive in her shop. Her young son ran from the shop screaming his mammy was on fire.”

Another commenter said: “Michelle, he was in prison for murdering a young mother, not as a so called political prisoner. If you truly want reconciliation, you must stop eulogising this type of individual.”

Yet another made a similar point: “You won’t get any buy in to an Ireland for everyone with tweets like this. Just when SF start to gain ground on the basis they leave the past behind this type of tweet comes out.... read the room.”