Marty Flynn responds to a critique of him carried in the Belfast Telegraph on the 14th February.

In response to an interview with Helen Deery carried in the Belfast Telegraph 

In the article written by Belfast Telegraph journalist Donna Deeney, Helen Deery claims to have been trolled by a Belfast based troll since the inquest into her brother Manus Deery’s murder, a ‘troll’ she claims she has never spoken to. Neither Helen nor the journalist, Donna Deeney, name this ‘troll’ in the article but what Ms Deeney did do was post this on to Helen’s Facebook timeline where Helen and Kate Nash did name this person on numerous occasions.


This is not only typical of the one-sided journalism I have come to expect from the mainstream media but proof that this lazy reporting in the wrong circumstances could have serious consequences for the person involved and his or her family.

For those unaware, I am the person being alluded to in the article which is clear from Helen’s timeline and for the record I am not a troll nor have I been trolling Helen Deery as she claims in the interview she gave.

Here are the facts.

Helen not only knows me and my wife Marie personally, but has engaged with me on numerous occasions on social media using language considered inappropriate, politically incorrect, offensive and on a few occasions downright toe curling! This occasion was no different and began with Helen on my Faebook page. Therefore the claim that this is anything more than our usual style of banter is untrue.





I first met Helen in person in 2014. Then in January 2015 when I proudly assisted with carrying the Manus Deery banner for which Helen thanked me personally in the presence of a friend and his young son who also carried the banner on that day.

I was behind the banner with Helen on the Guildhall square)


In the same year when plans were underway to implement the legacy section of the Stormont House Agreement myself and my wife Marie played an active role in supporting Helen, Kate and Linda.

Subsequently, we attended a meeting in the Maldron Hotel where I spoke to Helen prior to and after the meeting. This can be corroborated by family friend and retired Human Rights Lawyer Padraigin Drinan who spoke on the panel that day.

Former reporter for the Belfast Telegraph Lyra McKee who stepped in to chair the event when Eamonn McCann withdrew at the last minute can also confirm this as one of the conversations I had with Helen took place whilst Lyra, I and others were having refreshments in the hotel lobby prior to the meeting.

A short time later my wife and Padraigin Drinan accompanied Kate, Linda, Helen and others to a meeting with the former Stormont Justice Minister David Ford to discuss the plans that were underway at that time. This followed a meeting we attended in Stormont where attempts were underway to ‘gender proof’ draft victim’s legislation which at that time was unavailable for public consumption, scrutiny or consultation.

Following on from this at a meeting to discuss the victim’s issue in the home of Pauline Mellon in Derry my wife and I had Sunday dinner with Helen, Kate and Linda as many can confirm including Padraigin Drinan and Eamon Sweeney, former editor of the Derry Journal, who was also present that day.

So for Helen to claim she has never spoken to me and that I had been trolling her since the inquest when she only blocked me from her Facebook two weeks ago when I asked questions of the Bloody Sunday March committee is as questionable as the interview she gave to the Belfast Telegraph and blatant lies.

What is equally as questionable is days before my exchange with the contributor on The Pensive Quill which has caused the controversy Kate Nash blocked me for questioning comments she had made in relation to this year’s Bloody Sunday March conundrum.

A few days later Kate Nash posted the following on Helen’s timeline which Helen later shared before adopting as her own post.






Kate and Helen’s reference to the ‘governess’ and the ‘handler’ is directed at our friend Pauline Mellon who for over 18 months has been the subject of the most vile online abuse from Kate, Helen and their cronies despite her previous efforts for them and her challenging them to meet to substantiate their endless claims. My highlighting this on the thread which has caused the latest controversy in my opinion is the real crux of the issue, that and my having the audacity to question the Bloody Sunday March Committee over their controversial poster, their membership and their accounts.

I can honestly say that in all my time online and even with my tendency to offend the censor and alarm the PC police I have never witnessed actions as malicious and dangerous and from people claiming to be human rights and justice campaigners, yeah right! And to be honest the recent attempt to discredit me doesn’t even scratch the surface of the continuous efforts by Kate, Helen and company to discredit Pauline Mellon. The very use of the term ‘handler’ which is only one example, in my opinion, represents dangerous and malicious intent.

I will gladly admit to my part in using language considered inappropriate, politically incorrect and even offensive but I have not deviated from the truth, which is how I role. However, for Kate and Helen to point this out whilst conveniently overlooking their own conduct inclusive of posting and supporting vile, nasty and offensive comments is not only questionable but highly hypocritical.

About as hypocritical as the remarks from the administrator of one online ‘debating’ forum who believes that on the strength of the one sided article published in the Belfast Telegraph I am deserving of a slap, which is quite bizarre coming from a self-professed opponent of kangaroo justice. Ironically, this same person through this ‘debating’ forum has failed to address the online abuse of Pauline Mellon and Lorraine Taylor wife of internee Tony Taylor and on a few occasions Dee Fennell by real trolls whose malice and hypocrisy knows no bounds. So as for her ‘booting’ me off the site well the pleasure was all mine. Cait Trainor, as I, left a short time ago for the reasons I’ve just outlined and I doubt I’m the only one who did.

Now back to the issue at the fore of Helen’s recent claims which is my reference to her extending compassion to the commander of the regiment responsible for murdering her brother Manus in 1972. Helen can hug, appreciate and admire whomever she likes as contrary to Helen’s claims I have never voiced my thoughts on this until a few days ago and when doing so was quite flippant about it. That said, I totally stand by my thoughts on the commander and his alleged show of remorse for the following reasons….

Outside of the staged apology from David Cameron in 2010 there has been no compassion shown to the victims of state violence just as prisoners today continue to be brutalised and internment is still here 46 years on from Bloody Sunday.

Helen with her selective compassion did not extend the same to those listed in the Bloody Sunday Museum where she protested last year against the inclusion of the names on a display of those killed up to 1972. Hypocrisy how are you!

Helen doesn’t show the same compassion to those she and her cronies continue to attack both online and off.

Furthermore, when you consider Helen’s logic around her forgiveness and the comfort she received from her act of humanity I would question her membership on the Bloody Sunday March committee when she clearly received a lot of comfort from a few crocodile tears, an apology and a hug.

I will continue to question those on the Bloody Sunday March committee who clearly refuse to give the openness, accountability and inclusivity they demand of others, both collectively and individually, and no amount of lies, fake news, lazy journalism or attention seeking will stop me. I might be a bastard but I’m not the bad guy!


Marty Flynn is a Belfast republican and campaigner 

Trolling ... The Facts

Marty Flynn responds to a critique of him carried in the Belfast Telegraph on the 14th February.

In response to an interview with Helen Deery carried in the Belfast Telegraph 

In the article written by Belfast Telegraph journalist Donna Deeney, Helen Deery claims to have been trolled by a Belfast based troll since the inquest into her brother Manus Deery’s murder, a ‘troll’ she claims she has never spoken to. Neither Helen nor the journalist, Donna Deeney, name this ‘troll’ in the article but what Ms Deeney did do was post this on to Helen’s Facebook timeline where Helen and Kate Nash did name this person on numerous occasions.


This is not only typical of the one-sided journalism I have come to expect from the mainstream media but proof that this lazy reporting in the wrong circumstances could have serious consequences for the person involved and his or her family.

For those unaware, I am the person being alluded to in the article which is clear from Helen’s timeline and for the record I am not a troll nor have I been trolling Helen Deery as she claims in the interview she gave.

Here are the facts.

Helen not only knows me and my wife Marie personally, but has engaged with me on numerous occasions on social media using language considered inappropriate, politically incorrect, offensive and on a few occasions downright toe curling! This occasion was no different and began with Helen on my Faebook page. Therefore the claim that this is anything more than our usual style of banter is untrue.





I first met Helen in person in 2014. Then in January 2015 when I proudly assisted with carrying the Manus Deery banner for which Helen thanked me personally in the presence of a friend and his young son who also carried the banner on that day.

I was behind the banner with Helen on the Guildhall square)


In the same year when plans were underway to implement the legacy section of the Stormont House Agreement myself and my wife Marie played an active role in supporting Helen, Kate and Linda.

Subsequently, we attended a meeting in the Maldron Hotel where I spoke to Helen prior to and after the meeting. This can be corroborated by family friend and retired Human Rights Lawyer Padraigin Drinan who spoke on the panel that day.

Former reporter for the Belfast Telegraph Lyra McKee who stepped in to chair the event when Eamonn McCann withdrew at the last minute can also confirm this as one of the conversations I had with Helen took place whilst Lyra, I and others were having refreshments in the hotel lobby prior to the meeting.

A short time later my wife and Padraigin Drinan accompanied Kate, Linda, Helen and others to a meeting with the former Stormont Justice Minister David Ford to discuss the plans that were underway at that time. This followed a meeting we attended in Stormont where attempts were underway to ‘gender proof’ draft victim’s legislation which at that time was unavailable for public consumption, scrutiny or consultation.

Following on from this at a meeting to discuss the victim’s issue in the home of Pauline Mellon in Derry my wife and I had Sunday dinner with Helen, Kate and Linda as many can confirm including Padraigin Drinan and Eamon Sweeney, former editor of the Derry Journal, who was also present that day.

So for Helen to claim she has never spoken to me and that I had been trolling her since the inquest when she only blocked me from her Facebook two weeks ago when I asked questions of the Bloody Sunday March committee is as questionable as the interview she gave to the Belfast Telegraph and blatant lies.

What is equally as questionable is days before my exchange with the contributor on The Pensive Quill which has caused the controversy Kate Nash blocked me for questioning comments she had made in relation to this year’s Bloody Sunday March conundrum.

A few days later Kate Nash posted the following on Helen’s timeline which Helen later shared before adopting as her own post.






Kate and Helen’s reference to the ‘governess’ and the ‘handler’ is directed at our friend Pauline Mellon who for over 18 months has been the subject of the most vile online abuse from Kate, Helen and their cronies despite her previous efforts for them and her challenging them to meet to substantiate their endless claims. My highlighting this on the thread which has caused the latest controversy in my opinion is the real crux of the issue, that and my having the audacity to question the Bloody Sunday March Committee over their controversial poster, their membership and their accounts.

I can honestly say that in all my time online and even with my tendency to offend the censor and alarm the PC police I have never witnessed actions as malicious and dangerous and from people claiming to be human rights and justice campaigners, yeah right! And to be honest the recent attempt to discredit me doesn’t even scratch the surface of the continuous efforts by Kate, Helen and company to discredit Pauline Mellon. The very use of the term ‘handler’ which is only one example, in my opinion, represents dangerous and malicious intent.

I will gladly admit to my part in using language considered inappropriate, politically incorrect and even offensive but I have not deviated from the truth, which is how I role. However, for Kate and Helen to point this out whilst conveniently overlooking their own conduct inclusive of posting and supporting vile, nasty and offensive comments is not only questionable but highly hypocritical.

About as hypocritical as the remarks from the administrator of one online ‘debating’ forum who believes that on the strength of the one sided article published in the Belfast Telegraph I am deserving of a slap, which is quite bizarre coming from a self-professed opponent of kangaroo justice. Ironically, this same person through this ‘debating’ forum has failed to address the online abuse of Pauline Mellon and Lorraine Taylor wife of internee Tony Taylor and on a few occasions Dee Fennell by real trolls whose malice and hypocrisy knows no bounds. So as for her ‘booting’ me off the site well the pleasure was all mine. Cait Trainor, as I, left a short time ago for the reasons I’ve just outlined and I doubt I’m the only one who did.

Now back to the issue at the fore of Helen’s recent claims which is my reference to her extending compassion to the commander of the regiment responsible for murdering her brother Manus in 1972. Helen can hug, appreciate and admire whomever she likes as contrary to Helen’s claims I have never voiced my thoughts on this until a few days ago and when doing so was quite flippant about it. That said, I totally stand by my thoughts on the commander and his alleged show of remorse for the following reasons….

Outside of the staged apology from David Cameron in 2010 there has been no compassion shown to the victims of state violence just as prisoners today continue to be brutalised and internment is still here 46 years on from Bloody Sunday.

Helen with her selective compassion did not extend the same to those listed in the Bloody Sunday Museum where she protested last year against the inclusion of the names on a display of those killed up to 1972. Hypocrisy how are you!

Helen doesn’t show the same compassion to those she and her cronies continue to attack both online and off.

Furthermore, when you consider Helen’s logic around her forgiveness and the comfort she received from her act of humanity I would question her membership on the Bloody Sunday March committee when she clearly received a lot of comfort from a few crocodile tears, an apology and a hug.

I will continue to question those on the Bloody Sunday March committee who clearly refuse to give the openness, accountability and inclusivity they demand of others, both collectively and individually, and no amount of lies, fake news, lazy journalism or attention seeking will stop me. I might be a bastard but I’m not the bad guy!


Marty Flynn is a Belfast republican and campaigner 

1 comment:

  1. ur definitely not a bad guy. but personally, i think all this bloody sunday thing is only going to get worse until someone comes up with a new idea. its not an edifying spectacle anymore and everyone has to share blame for that.

    ReplyDelete