Commenting, Carla Lockhart MP said:

“I utterly condemn the abhorrent attack on Dunmurry PSNI station, as I did the attack in Lurgan in my own constituency. These were cowardly attempts to murder police officers who put themselves in harm’s way to protect our communities, and I pay tribute to the bravery and professionalism of the PSNI in responding.

“But while every right-minded person condemns these attacks without equivocation, Sinn Féin’s response drips with rank hypocrisy. They seek to condemn the bombers of today while continuing to glorify, laud and memorialise the bombers and terrorists of yesterday. That contradiction is not lost on victims, nor on the wider public.

“It was a calculated insult to victims that Sinn Féin chose to put forward Orla Flynn MLA, daughter of Patrick Flynn, convicted over an IRA bomb in Dunmurray, to condemn this attack. It was a grotesque reminder that while Sinn Fein may use the language of condemnation when politically convenient, their movement still romanticises terrorism and honours those who carried it out.

“You cannot credibly denounce terrorism in the present while celebrating terrorists from the past. That is not peace-building; it is moral duplicity.

“The Government must now reflect seriously on its failure to strengthen legislation around the glorification of terrorism. There must be no tolerance for the sanitising or celebration of terrorist violence, whether historic or contemporary. I urge the Government to act urgently and legislate to end the glorification of terrorism once and for all.

“Victims deserve better than platitudes. They deserve truth, consistency and action.”