A Sinn Fein MP was forced to resign after mocking victims of an IRA massacre by posting a video of himself with a loaf of bread on his head to social media. Barry McElduff was filmed with the Kingsmill-branded item on the anniversary of the 1976 sectarian killings of the same name.

In one of the worst incidents during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, gunmen stopped a van carrying textile workers on their way home near the Kingsmill village in south Armagh. They identified the Protestant occupants, lined them up at the side of the road and shot them, murdering 10 and wounding another.

McEldfuff said he did not make a connection in his mind between the two things - and apologised "for any hurt or offence caused" However Sinn Fein suspended him for three months over the controversy, after Alan Black - the sole survivor of the massacre - accused the MP of "dancing on the graves" of those killed. And later he announced he had decided to quit as MP, although as an abstentionist Republican he never took up his seat in the House of Commons.

He said "It is with great sadness that, after more than 30 years as an active Sinn Fein member and public representative I am tendering my resignation as MP for West Tyrone. The reason I am doing so is because of the consequences of the Twitter video which has caused such controversy over the last week."

Reiterating his insistence he had not meant the video - which saw him place the loaf on his head and walk around a garage asking where the bread was - as a reference to Kingsmill massacre. He said his greatest regret was the "deep and unnecessary hurt" his video had caused the families, adding "I again offer my profound apology to those families and to the wider victims community."

Mr Black welcomed the resignation, saying "This past week has been truly awful for me. I am just hanging by a thread. But I am glad he has done the right thing." He said the fall-out from the Twitter video forced him to re-live the trauma of the attack - in which he was shot 18 times!

DUP leader Arlene Foster also welcomed the news, saying "now is the time for Sinn Fein to learn the lessons from these dark events" she added "He was not fit for public office and should have resigned in the immediate aftermath of posting the disgraceful video mocking and insulting the horrific terrorist events at Kingsmill."

Sinn Fein's Stormont leader Michelle O'Neill said the reason for Mr McElduff's resignation was the "unintended hurt" he had caused, and thanked him for his work for the people of West Tyrone. She said "Barry recognises that this controversy and his continuing role in public office is compounding the distress to the victims of Kingsmill, and again offers his profound apology to those families and to the wider victims community. He has said that he does not want to be a barrier to reconciliation and I respect that decision."

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