Statement by TUV Braid Councillor Matthew Warrick:
“Traffic Watch NI’s Twitter feed should be a useful resource for the public to learn about problems motorists will encounter across Northern Ireland. It is, after all, paid for by the public as the account is run by the Department of Infrastructure.
“However, the sharing of pro-terrorist material by someone with access to the account is deeply concerning as is frankly the response of the Department.
“This is not a case, as the Department has claimed, of a “political tweet apparently retweeted by @TrafficwatchNI”. It was a tweet which celebrated a terrorist convicted of involvement in not one but three terrorist attacks which but for the grace of God would have resulted in innocent people being ushered out into eternity.
“Not just the retweeting but the pathetic response of the Department has caused gross offence to innocent victims of Republican terrorism. The casual response to a publicly funded account celebrating a terrorist is completely unacceptable.
“Anyone who knows the basics of how Twitter operates will find the Department’s claim that the account was hacked difficult to credit as well. Why did the hacking only result in this retweet? When did they regain access to the account? A much more credible explanation is that an employee of the Department is responsible.
“The casual response of the Department, seeking to brush it off as merely a “political tweet” suggests that the powers that be do not regard this matter as being a serious as they should.”