Sinn Féin leader in the North, Michelle O’Neill, speaks to the media after signing a book of condolence at Belfast City Hall which was opened up for the victims of the bomb attack in Manchester

Sinn Fein's northern leader is delusional if she thinks people don't see through her 'that was then, this is now'' whataboutery, writes Eilis O'Hanlon.

The late Cardinal Cahal Daly called it "the commonest form of moral evasion in Ireland today". He was referring to whataboutery, the familiar practice of deflecting criticism of acts of violence by groups with which one agrees by immediately pointing to acts of violence by those with whom one disagrees, and loudly demanding: "What about this? What about that?"

Like all good definitions, though, it's become misused, to the point where anyone who exposes the hypocrisy of certain speakers when they condemn violence, despite having enthusiastically supported it in the past, is also accused of engaging in whataboutery, when all they're actually doing is struggling to reconcile two entirely contradictory points of view.

That tendency has emerged again following the terrorist attack at the Ariana Grande concert in the Manchester Arena on Monday night, which killed 22 people. Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams called it a "shocking and horrendous attack on children and young people". The party's Northern Ireland leader Michelle O'Neill signed the book of condolence at Belfast City Hall, calling the attack "unthinkable", and saying she'd watched events unfold with "shock and horror".

"I condemn it," she added, with none of the ifs and buts that generally accompany such statements.

O'Neill did all this only weeks after attending yet another commemoration for Provisional IRA members killed on so-called active service. Defending that decision, the Co Tyrone woman described those who died at Loughgall as "Irish patriots".

The terrorists that Michelle O'Neill proudly celebrates murdered children too, and far more than were killed in Manchester. The "patriots" whose memory she venerates indiscriminately slaughtered people quietly going about their business in public places.

Just because the men she celebrates did it for a united Ireland, and the Manchester bomber most likely for a worldwide Islamic caliphate under Sharia law, doesn't make it any more acceptable.

The only difference is there was no 24-hour news back then, and certainly no social media. Atrocities did not unfurl in real time; people at home didn't see the full horror for themselves. If they had, the IRA may have been shamed into stopping sooner.

Irish republicans would have us believe that their terrorism was different. That their bombs were nicer. They look at the suicide bombers and insist: "We're not like Themmuns." Are they sure about that?

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Pic: David Young/PA Wire PA A woman looks at flowers in St. Ann's Square, close to the Manchester Arena where a suicide bomber killed 22 people leaving a pop concert at the venue on Monday night. PA A silent vigil took place in Belfast city centre in memory of the victims of the bomb attack in Manchester. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Pacemaker Press Belfast 23-05-2017: A silent vigil took place in Belfast city centre tonight in memory of the victims of last night's bomb attack in Manchester. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Pacemaker Press Belfast 23-05-2017: A silent vigil took place in Belfast city centre tonight in memory of the victims of last night's bomb attack in Manchester. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Some of the people who gathered at the War memorial in Derry to express their solidarity with people of Manchester. Picture Martin McKeown. Inpresspics.com. 23.05.17 Some of the people who gathered at the War memorial in Derry to express their solidarity with people of Manchester. Picture Martin McKeown. Inpresspics.com. 23.05.17 Some of the people who gathered at the War memorial in Derry to express their solidarity with people of Manchester. Picture Martin McKeown. Inpresspics.com. 23.05.17 People gather for a vigil outside Belfast City Hall, after a 23-year-old man was arrested in connection with the Manchester concert bomb attack. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 23, 2017. The attack killed 22 people, including children, and injured dozens more in the worst terrorist incident to hit Britain since the July 7 atrocities. See PA story POLICE Explosion. Photo credit should read: Michael McHugh/PA Wire PA People gather for a vigil outside Belfast City Hall, after a 23-year-old man was arrested in connection with the Manchester concert bomb attack. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 23, 2017. The attack killed 22 people, including children, and injured dozens more in the worst terrorist incident to hit Britain since the July 7 atrocities. See PA story POLICE Explosion. Photo credit should read: Michael McHugh/PA Wire PA People gather for a vigil in Albert Square outside Manchester Town Hall in Manchester after attack at concert. Photo credit should read: Joe Giddens/PA Wire PA Members of the public gather to attend a candlelit vigil, to honour the victims of Monday evening's terror attack, at Albert Square on May 23, 2017 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images) Getty Images People from Manchester Sikh Community carry "I love MCR" banners as they arrive to attend a vigil in Albert Square in Manchester, northwest England on May 23, 2017, in solidarity with those killed an injured in the May 22 terror attack at the Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena. Twenty two people have been killed and dozens injured in Britain's deadliest terror attack in over a decade after a suspected suicide bomber targeted fans leaving a concert of US singer Ariana Grande in Manchester. British police on Tuesday named the suspected attacker behind the Manchester concert bombing as Salman Abedi, but declined to give any further details. / AFP PHOTO / Ben STANSALLBEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images A couple embrace under a billboard in Manchester city centre, Tuesday May 23, 2017, the day after the suicide attack at an Ariana Grande concert that left 22 people dead as it ended on Monday night. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) AP BERLIN, GERMANY - MAY 23: Flowers lay in shape of a heart in front of British Embassy on May 23, 2017 in Berlin, Germany. An explosion occurred at Manchester Arena as concert goers were leaving the venue after Ariana Grande had performed. Greater Manchester Police are treating the explosion as a terrorist attack and have confirmed 22 fatalities and 59 injured. (Photo by Steffi Loos/Getty Images) Getty Images Flowers are left in St Ann's Square, Manchester, the day after a suicide bomber killed 22 people, including children, as an explosion tore through fans leaving a pop concert in Manchester. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 23, 2017. See PA story POLICE Explosion. Photo credit should read: Martin Rickett/PA Wire PA Retail staff hug each other after being evacuated from the Arndale Centre shopping mall in Manchester, northwest England on May 23 AFP/Getty Images Saffie Rose Roussos, (8) was killed in the attack. Collect/PA Wire PA First victim to be named - Georgina Callander. She is pictured with Ariana Grande in 2015. Pic: Instagram Georgina.Bethany Tributes left outside St Ann's Church in Manchester, the morning after a suicide bomber killed 22 people, including children, as an explosion tore through fans leaving a pop concert, at Manchester Arena. PA Tributes left outside St Ann's Church in Manchester, the morning after a suicide bomber killed 22 people, including children, as an explosion tore through fans leaving a pop concert, at Manchester Arena. PA Police evacuated the Arndale Centre on May 23, 2017 in Manchester, England. Getty Images A girl wearing a t-shirt of US singer Ariana Grande carrying balloons from the Ariana Grande concert AFP/Getty Images MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MAY 23: Armed police patrol the Arndale Shopping Centre after the terrorist attack, May 23, 2017 in Manchester, England. An explosion occurred at Manchester Arena as concert goers were leaving the venue after Ariana Grande had performed. Greater Manchester Police are treating the explosion as a terrorist attack and have confirmed 22 fatalities and 59 injured. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) Getty Images People look out of the windows of a building opposite the Arndale Centre as the shopping mall is evacuated in Manchester, northwest England on May 23, 2017. Twenty two people have been killed and dozens injured in Britain's deadliest terror attack in over a decade after a suspected suicide bomber targeted fans leaving a concert of US singer Ariana Grande in Manchester. / AFP PHOTO / Ben STANSALLBEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Manchester United's Wayne Rooney stands alongside team-mates for a minute silence in memory of the victims of the Manchester terror attack during the final training session at the AON Training Complex in Carrington, ahead of the Europa League Final against Ajax. PA Prime Minister Theresa May addresses the media in Downing Street, London, after a suicide bomber killed 22 people, including children, as an explosion tore through fans leaving a pop concert in Manchester. PA A woman wearing a T-shirt of US singer Ariana Grande near the Manchester Arena in Manchester AFP/Getty Images Ariana Grande concert attendees leave the Park Inn Hotel where they were given refuge after last nights explosion at Manchester Arena on May 23, 2017 in Manchester, England. Getty Images Armed police close to the Manchester Arena, the morning after a suicide bomber killed 22 people, including children, as an explosion tore through fans leaving a pop concert in Manchester. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 23, 2017. See PA story POLICE Explosion. Photo credit should read: Danny Lawson/PA Wire PA Screen grabbed image taken from the Twitter feed of Ariana Grande after a suicide bomber killed 22 people, including children, as an explosion tore through fans leaving her pop concert in Manchester. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Tuesday May 23, 2017. Some 59 people were also injured in the blast when the attacker detonated an improvised explosive device at the Manchester Arena. See PA story POLICE Explosion. Photo credit should read: Ariana Grande/Twitter/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder. PA Mother Amy Trippitt (right) and her daughter Grace, who attended the concert at Manchester Arena last night, leave the Park Inn hotel in the city the morning after a suicide bomber killed 22 people, including children, as an explosion tore through fans leaving the pop concert. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 23, 2017. See PA story POLICE Explosion. Photo credit should read: Danny Lawson/PA Wire PA Mother Amy Trippitt and her daughter Grace, who attended the concert at Manchester Arena last night, leave the Park Inn hotel in the city the morning after a suicide bomber killed 22 people, including children, as an explosion tore through fans leaving the pop concert. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 23, 2017. See PA story POLICE Explosion. Photo credit should read: Danny Lawson/PA Wire PA Police close to the Manchester Arena the morning after a terrorist attack at the end of a concert by US star Ariana Grande left 22 dead. PA PA Greater Manchester Police chief constable Ian Hopkins speaks to the media in Manchester where he said that the death toll from the Manchester bomb attack has risen to 22 with 59 injured. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 23, 2017. See PA story POLICE Explosion. Photo credit should read: Peter Byrne/PA Wire PA Police forensic investigators walk along a bridge linking Victoria Station with the Manchester Arena where a suspected terrorist attack at the end of a concert by US star Ariana Grande left 19 dead. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 23, 2017. See PA story POLICE Explosion. Photo credit should read: Danny Lawson/PA Wire PA Fan leaves the Park Inn hotel in central Manchester, England, Tuesday, May 23, 2017. Over a dozen people were killed in an explosion following a Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena late Monday evening. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira) AP BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE Picture taken with permission from the twitter feed of @Zach_bruce of people running through Manchester Victoria station after an explosion at Manchester Arena. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Tuesday May 23, 2017. See PA story POLICE Explosion. Photo credit should read: @Zach_bruce/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder. PA Emergency services at Manchester Arena after reports of an explosion at the venue during an Ariana Grande gig. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 23, 2017. See PA story POLICE Explosion. Photo credit should read: Peter Byrne/PA Wire PA Emergency services at Manchester Arena after reports of an explosion at the venue during an Ariana Grande gig. [Photo: Peter Byrne/PA Wire] PA FILE - In this Aug. 28, 2016 file photo, Ariana Grande arrives at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York. Police say there are "a number of fatalities" after reports of an explosion at an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena in northern England on Monday, May 22, 2017.. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File) Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP A fan is comforted as she leaves the Park Inn hotel in central Manchester, England Tuesday May 23 2017. Over a dozen people were killed in an explosion following a Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena late Monday evening. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira) AP A fan leaves the Park Inn hotel in central Manchester, Britain, Tuesday, May 23 2017. An apparent suicide bomber set off an improvised explosive device that killed over a dozen people at the end of an Ariana Grande concert on Monday, Manchester police said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira) AP Fans leave the Park Inn hotel in central Manchester, England Tuesday May 23 2017. An apparent suicide bomber set off an improvised explosive device that killed over a dozen people at the end of an Ariana Grande concert on Monday, Manchester police said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira) AP Armed police (left) at Manchester Arena after reports of an explosion at the venue during an Ariana Grande gig. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Monday May 22, 2017. See PA story POLICE Explosion. Photo credit should read: Peter Byrne/PA Wire PA Flowers left close to the Manchester Arena, the morning after a suicide bomber killed 22 people, including children, as an explosion tore through fans leaving a pop concert in Manchester. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday May 23, 2017. See PA story POLICE Explosion. Photo credit should read: Danny Lawson/PA Wire PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp Saffie Roussos (8) and Georgina Callander (18) who died in the Manchester Arena terror attack

Isis may carry out more of what the IRA used to call "spectaculars". Even so, homegrown jihadists would have to significantly intensify their operations to come anywhere near to matching the more than 2,000 killed by republicans and more than 1,000 by loyalists.

How do Michelle O'Neill and Gerry Adams have the gall to express sympathy for a city which the republican movement itself devastated with the largest bomb in Britain since the Second World War, showering people more than half a mile away with glass and debris?

That a warning was given that day in 1996, and the area evacuated in time, is no excuse. It was pure luck that no one died. Only a sick mind expects credit for luck.

"Martin McGuinness was not a terrorist," declared Adams during a graveside oration for the former Deputy First Minister. But what was the proxy bomb that murdered civilian chef Patsy Gillespie and five soldiers if not an act of terrorism? What were Claudy, Enniskillen, Bloody Friday, Harrods, Brighton, Warrington?

Michelle O'Neill and Gerry Adams should feel disgraced that the republican movement whose memory they paint in rosy colours was an early adopter of the nail bomb, as witnessed to barbaric effect in Hyde Park, years before Monday's bomber, who used the same type of device to kill and maim, was probably even born.

The dead are no less dead because the cause in whose name they were murdered is one that Sinn Fein shares. They may delude themselves that the IRA didn't target civilians, but its volunteers were prepared for civilians to die, and were reckless with innocent life.

Only last year, former hunger striker Pat Sheehan - who was jailed as a teenager for trying to bomb a cash and carry store, of all things - said that moving on from the past "may mean an apology" for the 1996 attack in Manchester, but he added that the British government would need to accept its responsibility for conflict in Northern Ireland in return.

That's not how repentance works. You're either sorry or you're not. Turning an apology into a negotiation is politics, not ethics, and that's what is once again on display this week from Sinn Fein.

Politicians who supported terrorist violence in the past, and condemn it when it happens now, just expect us to be too polite and diplomatic to point out their hypocrisy.

At the very least, they should answer why the violence which they backed is any less reprehensible, because you can't take the credit for moving away from violence without also accepting it was wrong in the first place.

Why keep bringing this up? That's what some people will say, frustrated that those who suffered at the hands of terrorists in Northern Ireland won't conveniently shut up and let those who supported it then, and continue to justify it in retrospect, reap the electoral benefits of joining the chorus of condemnation.

It's because of a suspicion that they're not being honest, and not saying what they really think.

The same goes for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who cosied up to Sinn Fein for decades, and now fervidly rewrites history to make it seem as if he was a behind-the-scenes negotiator for peace.

It also goes for Dianne Abbott, who's lined up to take charge of tackling terrorism as Home Secretary in any Labour government after June 8, who once hailed the fight for Irish unity as "our struggle", saying "every defeat for the British state is a victory for us all."

Like Adams and O'Neill, they cry foul when their past words are thrown back at them, as if it's unfair to expect them to either withdraw or stand over them.

What really goads them is that they can't. It's their own words that are the problem, not the fact others refuse to forget.

"When you're in a war situation, I'm not saying ethics are put on hold, but I think you have a different template." That's what Pat Sheehan once said.

Those who bombed Manchester this week, 21 years after the IRA set the same example, would totally agree.

Republicans were far closer to Themmuns than they like to believe.

Belfast Telegraph