SDLP Westminster candidate – and current Chair of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council – Pete Byrne has responded to claims he made an offensive remark in the aftermath of last night’s election results.
Councillor Byrne finished in second place with 6,806 votes, a long way behind Sinn Féin’s Daire Hughes, who claimed 22,299 votes.
Mr Hughes replaced Mickey Brady on the ballot paper, easing home to maintain the party’s grip on the Newry and Armagh Westminster seat.
In a regional newspaper, Mr Byrne was attributed with the quote: “You could put a Sinn Fein sticker on a donkey and people would still vote for it.”
The post was referenced and widely shared across social media.
However, councillor Byrne moved to distance himself from the quote, responding on his own social media.
“For absolute clarity,” he wrote, “I ran a respectful campaign and hold every candidate in the highest regard and have done so throughout every election I have fought.
“I have just become aware of an article attributing a quote to me that was not a quote made be me. Last night a reporter overheard a statement said TO me by another party and asked what that person had said.
“This is not a statement I made, nor a statement I would ever make. People know me and the respect I treat others with and have always done. I have contacted the news outlet involved on this matter and spoke with Daires team and reached out to Daire also.
“Politicians must stand over everything they say but we also have a right for any statements attributed to them to be true and accurate.”
