The funeral cortege of Derry republican socialist Tommy McCourt draped by the Starry Plough flag, making it way from his home. PHOTO: Tom Heaney, nwpresspics
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01 Oct 2025
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01 Oct 2025
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Alex Jones
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood has defended incoming Mayor of Derry and Strabane, Cllr Lilian Seenoi-Barr after she has been subjected to targeted abuse from "far-right hate mongers" today.
Among those attacking Cllr Seenoi-Barr are American far right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who in 2022 was ordered to pay £1.2bn for falsely claiming the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax.
Jones, who founded the conspiracy theory website Infowars, was removed from other major platforms, including YouTube and Facebook.
He was banned from Twitter in 2018 for breaching the site's rules on abusive behaviour.
Jones, who has an audience of 2.3 million followers on X (formerly Twitter), tweeted about Cllr Seenoi-Barr using language including ‘invaders’, ‘replacement migration’, ‘conquer the west’ and ‘Ireland is in the crosshairs’.
The Foyle MP said: “The racially motivated attacks on Lilian over the weekend and today have been coordinated by far-right political actors Hell bent on spreading misinformation to fuel their own appalling ideology.
“These people don’t care about places like Derry and Strabane, they don’t care about the people who live here and have made a home for their families here. The hate at the heart of their politics could not stand more starkly against the compassion that Lilian has shown for the people of Derry, people across this island and those in need even further afield.
“Lilian will be an excellent Mayor precisely because she cares deeply about people regardless of their background, she is fearless in her advocacy and she works every single day to bring communities closer together. We will not be cowed by people like Alex Jones or his band of hate. We’ve got Lilian’s back - that is not going to change.”
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