SDLP South Belfast Assembly candidate Elsie Trainor says she won't be intimidated off the election trail after she was assaulted and had her posters stolen by two men in the Ormeau district.
When Elsie confronted the two men, they hurled obscene and misogynistic abuse and called her a "republican bastard". After her posters were taken down she followed the culprits on foot into Ormeau Park where she was assaulted. Elsie managed to get clear footage of the suspects which has now been passed to the PSNI who are treating the incident as a hate crime. The PSNI are also treating the incident as assault and as robbery.
Elsie said the ordeal has in fact deepened her determination her to continue to represent everyone in South Belfast.
Monday night saw a blatant attack on democracy, and a statement of intent to intimate me. My posters were being systematically cut down one after another by two men, in broad daylight rush hour, on one of Belfast’s main roads. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/hKeRtnP7vW
— Elsie Trainor (@elsietrainor) April 13, 2022
“It was rough at the time and I didn’t sleep that well that night, and a bit unsettled the next day, but I wasn’t hurt," she told the South Belfast News. "It was a rough experience and an unexpected one – a real turn up for the books!
"There are always poster shenanigans that go on every election, but this was a concerted and systematic attempt to remove mine."
Elsie explained what happened when she was alerted to the theft of her posters.
"I received a phone call letting me know what was happening and I ran out and saw them.
"They were going from lamppost to lamppost removing only my posters one by one. I got very clear pictures and videos of them doing it, where their full faces can be seen, and I’ve passed these over to the police who updated me last night and said they’re very happy with the quality of them and can make out the two who were involved.
"They are treating it as a hate crime, as assault and as robbery.”
The SDLP candidate’s bravery in pursuing the men has been commended and the actions of the perpertrators have been widely condemned across the political spectrum.
Elsie said the message the men were trying to send had backfired and added that the incident was unreflective of South Belfast. She added that she believes other people are orchestrating the increasing number of poster incidents and using individuals to target the posters without getting their hands dirty.
“This isn’t how we’re living our lives anymore, ordinary people have been very happy to leave that lark in the past, and that’s what I always see in South Belfast.
"We all go to each other’s community groups, our neighbours are mixed, and we play sports together. This has been stirred up and stoked by extremist rhetoric, and it is fringe behaviour.
"This is reflective of a cohort that is being drawn out to their own detriment by would-be community leaders who don’t care about those guys. They’re just leading them into trouble. We don’t know the background of why they did it, they could have been paying off debts, or trying to gain a name for themselves, but they’re creating a cul-de-sac for their own lives.
ORDEAL: Elsie with one of her election posters
"Stirring up hatred, pouring in toxicity, calling on young people to riot and making youths do their dirty bidding – I really, really feel for those young men. It’s the reason I wanted to get involved in politics, because we are stronger together and we need to find common ground and draw everyone together and not leave anyone behind, because if you leave people behind it doesn’t work.
"The higher-ups do not give a hoot about these kids, and they leave them with no opportunities and no-one looking out for their futures. The people who set themselves up to be their role models are actually just kicking the stool from under their opportunities time after time and that’s why we need to redouble our efforts.
"Those who are dialling up the rhetoric need to dial it down and take the heat away from this, and those who are willing need to work together to leave no-one behind.”
Elsie said the posters have been put back up and she'll be campaigning as usual in the three weeks until election day.
“This isn’t even about the posters, it’s about the message they were trying to send in broad daylight in rush hour, going lamppost to lamppost cutting down only my posters. They were clearly saying to me, ‘Get off the stage, be fearful, democracy won’t work for you.' I am so glad I spotted them and got to deliver the message that democracy will work, and intimidation won’t work.
"Their message is futile because ironically it has consolidated so many people’s thinking that we can’t go back, and we must go forward with common ground and send a message to those who direct this kind of activity that there aren’t any gains in this.
"You can’t come into a community and feel you can single out a candidate and intimidate her because you feel she is a woman, a mother, new to the political stage, or because you don’t agree with her politics. They thought I was a soft target and could be strategically removed. The very next morning I and a party member put the posters back up and I took a lot of pleasure in putting them back myself.”
