During the Easter recess, news emerged that the unrepentant sectarian mass murderer Sean Kelly had been convicted of yet another terrorist-related offence. Following an IRA parade in December 2022, Mr Kelly was convicted at Belfast High Court of a breach of section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000. As Members will be aware, in 1993, Mr Kelly was convicted of the indiscriminate, sectarian Shankill bombing, in which he murdered nine innocent people. Mr Kelly served just seven years in prison for one of the greatest atrocities of the Troubles. Under the terms of the Belfast Agreement, which continues to be a stain on the moral fabric of this society, he was released, having served less than one year for each person whom he murdered.

Following his conviction, I contacted the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, asking that he revoke the licence granted to Mr Kelly under the Belfast Agreement. It is clear that, despite his conviction for terrorism-related offences, he continues to be unrepentant about the murder of my constituents that he carried out on the Shankill Road and continues to glorify that barbaric act. We as a party will continue to stand with the families of the Shankill bombing and of innocent victims across Northern Ireland and call out those who celebrate terrorism and try to rewrite the past.