2 hours ago
Watch: Kiwi Nick Madden was picked to perform as a solo tenor at Prince Philip s funeral. Credits: Image - Getty; Video - Newshub
An Irish political leader has publically apologised for the 1979 assassination of Prince Philip s uncle Lord Mountbatten.
Lord Louis Mountbatten was a celebrated commander during World War II and was seen as a father figure to Prince Philip and mentor to Prince Charles.
Lord Mountbatten was on holiday in Ireland when the Irish Republican Army (IRA) placed a radio-controlled bomb under his boat and detonated it after he took it out to sea, also killing his 14-year-old grandson, a 15-year-old boat boy and 83-year-old Lady Doreen Brabourne.
Mary Lou McDonald says sorry for IRA murder of Lord Mountbatten newsletter.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from newsletter.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said she was “sorry” the IRA killed Lord Mountbatten in 1979, a day after the funeral of Lord Mountbatten’s nephew, Prince Phillip.
“The [British] army … carried out many, many violent actions on our island. And I can say, of course, I am sorry that that happened,” McDonald told Britain’s Times Radio when she was asked if she would personally apologise to Prince Charles for the attack.
“Of course, that is heartbreaking. My job, and I think that Prince Charles and others would absolutely appreciate this, my job is to lead from the front, now, in these times. I have an absolute commitment and responsibility to make sure that no family faces that again. And I am happy to reiterate that on the weekend that your queen buried her beloved husband,” she added.
Sinn Fein’s leader has insisted her comments on the murder of Lord Mountbatten did not mark a change in position of expressing sorrow for all deaths during the Troubles.
Mary Lou McDonald said comments during an interview with Times Radio on Sunday were a reiteration of her “sorry and sadness” for all deaths and injuries inflicted during the Northern Ireland conflict.
Amid uncertainty over whether she was making a specific apology for Lord Mountbatten’s killing by the IRA in 1979, Mrs McDonald was asked on Monday to clarify her remarks.
“I have never any difficulty whatsoever in expressing my profound sorrow and sadness for all death and injury in the course of the conflict,” she said.