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Alderman McMorris made the comments at October’s Full Council Meeting, when members were discussing the decision by DUP Education Minister, Paul Givan, to visit a school in Israel. During the discussion, Alderman McMorris said she was “offended” by another member’s comments that her party was “on the wrong side of history” in regards to Palestine. “That might be somebody’s opinion but everybody has a right to their own opinion,” she said. “And when we talk about Soldier F and we talk about the Bloody Sunday victims, people have the right to support Soldier F no less than people have the right to support the Bloody Sunday victims. “There should not be any hierarchy of victims here, do you know what I mean? They’re all victims.” In response SDLP councillor Brian Tierney put forward a point of order, asserting the Soldier F was not a victim. “When you’re talking about hierarchy of victims, Soldier F is not a victim and he does not come under the same category as the innocent civilians that were murdered on Bloody Sunday,” Councillor Tierney said. “You cannot link Soldier F and innocent victims and you cannot label Soldier F as a victim”. Alderman McMorris replied: “I am not labelling Soldier F as a victim. “We were talking initially about Israelis and terrorists and all sorts of murder… and everybody’s going to have their own opinion on it. “We see time and time again where we’re lambasted in this chamber, as a political party or personally, and once we say anything [we’re] shouted across. But I’ve made my point, so I’ll leave it at that.” Atthe same meeting Derry and Strabane Council had voted by majority to call for Education Minister Paul Givan to resign over a trip to an Israeli school, which was promoted on his department’s social media. Sinn Féin Councillor Pat Murphy criticised Mr Givan and other unionist representatives for visiting Israel “in the midst of a genocide”. Paul Givan has responded to criticism over the trip in a ‘personal statement’ on social media, saying he had been ‘vilified by those who have sought to call into question my character and my commitment to the people of Northern Ireland’. SDLP councillor Catherine McDaid agreed with calls for Mr Givan’s resignation and had said that the DUP ‘need to have a long hard look at themselves’. “On the wrong side of history again and their divisive politics continues to cause pain to so many people.” In response, DUP Alderman Niree McMorris said representatives of other parties should be “mindful” of their colleagues’ actions. “If you’re going to call out the DUP then you need to sweep your own doors as well, because it’s not okay to heroise terrorists murderers and then think it’s not acceptable for somebody to go and visit schools in Israel. “I find it very offensive that somebody would say that because we are DUP, that we’re in some way on the wrong side of history.” Andrew Balfour, Local Democracy Reporter.
