Ulster Unionist Party leader Jon Burrows has criticised First Minister Michelle O’Neill for attending a commemoration that honoured IRA hunger strikers.

Burrows singled out the inclusion of Thomas McElwee, who was convicted in connection with a firebomb attack that killed Yvonne Dunlop, a 26-year-old mother of three, in her family’s shop in Ballymena on 9 October 1976. McElwee later died on hunger strike in 1981.

The UUP leader said the First Minister’s presence at such an event was not consistent with a role that requires representing everyone in Northern Ireland. He added that the commemoration had caused renewed distress for the Dunlop family.

Burrows also referenced remarks made by Sinn Féin MLA Emma Sheerin, who described McElwee as “the best of us”. He rejected that characterisation, stating that a man who took part in the killing of a young mother was among the worst.

He argued that genuine progress does not mean overlooking acts of terrorism or honouring those who carried them out, and that victims of violence deserve recognition rather than those who caused their deaths.

The commemoration has drawn attention to ongoing tensions around how the legacy of the conflict is publicly marked by elected representatives.