Resignation call follows Twitter row

A Londonderry member of the Parades Commission has been urged to resign following a comment posted on social media website ‘Twitter’.

DUP MP Gregory Campbell has called for the resignation of Robin Percival, after a comment made on an account purportedly belonging to Mr Percival, reacting to a story in which Mr Campbell said the parades template used to secure deals in Londonderry could not be used to resolve problems elsewhere.

In the article based on his open letter to Martin McGuinness, the MP took the deputy First Minister to task for highlighting Londonderry as a ‘template’ during recent disturbances in Belfast, given the ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Protestants on the cityside.

A tweet posted on the Sentinel’s Twitter feed from the Robin Percival2 account responded: “No ethnic cleansing in Derry. 69-81: IRA killed 15 Prot civils and 11 RCs. UDA killed 10 RCs and 1 Prot. BA killed 30 RCs”

Mr Campbell yesterday issued a statement calling for Mr Percival’s resignation from the Parades Commission.

The MP said that, since Mr Percival had made such views public, he “should not be determining upon the cultural displays of the Protestant community.”

He added: “When a group conduct a terrorist campaign that not only murders people but creates an atmosphere of fear that forces people to leave the place they have lived for generations they are guilty of ethnic cleansing. The record of history proves the IRA are guilty of the same.”

The Sentinel tried to contact Mr Percival who was said to be on Commission business. The Commission was asked to respond but was unable to do so at the time of going to press.