DUP COUNCILLOR Ruth Patterson has reportedly been arrested over comments she made on Facebook about a planned republican parade in County Tyrone.

Both the BBC and the Press Association report that the the councillor was arrested following a conversation she had on Facebook in which she responded to a fictional attack on the parade in which Sinn Féin members would be killed, saying that it would be ” a great service to Northern Ireland.”

The Unionist councillor for Balmoral in Belfast had last night apologised for her comments labelling them a “lapse of judgement”:

I completely withdraw this flawed Facebook comment. Murder and terrorism can never be justified in any circumstances. My ill-judged comment is completely incompatible with the polices of the DUP and what is expected of me as councillor.

The DUP also said that while taking account of Patterson’s statement they will be investigating the issue.

The Sinn Fein-backed Tyrone Volunteers Day on 11 August has been given the go-ahead by the Parade’s Commission but will be re-routed to avoid the centre of Castlederg town.

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