For unionist politicians, paedophile and domestic abuser David Tweed was just ‘larger than life’ – not a danger to women
When David Tweed died in a crash in County Antrim at the end of October, Ian Paisley Jr, Tweed’s MP, spoke of his sadness: “David was a well-known Ulsterman.” He had been a “leading Ulster and Ireland rugby star”, a “political activist” and an “elected official”. He sent prayers to Tweed’s family at what he said must be “an unimaginably heartbreaking time”.
Tweed was a former Democratic Unionist party councillor. Local DUP politician Mervyn Storey said he had known “Davy” and his family for most of his life and could not begin to imagine the sorrow they must have been plunged into. “Just on Sunday past he sat in front of me in church,” he reminisced. “He was a larger than life character and not just only in his physical presence.”
Susan McKay is an Irish writer and journalist whose books include Northern Protestants – On Shifting Ground