Marty Flynn feels totally vindicated by the IPSO inquiry into his claim that he had been smeared in a Belfast Telegraph article.

Why do people tell lies Granda? This was a question posed by one of my grandchildren in the wake of lies and false allegations made against me in the press a few months ago. My grandchild had heard snippets of a discussion in our home about the incident and was upset. I explained the situation to the child as best as I could and reassured the child that I would deal with this matter; that it is wrong to tell lies on any person. I also explained that telling the truth was always the best thing to do, even if some people didn’t like to hear it, as was the case in this situation.

You may recall an article I published in The Pensive Quill a few months ago entitled ‘trolling the facts’. If not, the article was based on a number of false claims made about me by Derry based ‘victims campaigner’ Helen Deery in an article published in the Belfast Telegraph on 14 February 2018. This article received a lot of attention as you would expect, with people quick to believe the content as provided by Helen Deery and accepted by the journalist without question. Whilst I wasn’t named in the article my identity was made known by ‘human rights campaigner’ Kate Nash prior to the articles publication in a communication which can only be described as malicious.





To clarify, Helen Deery’s dash to the press followed a heated exchange between Helen and I on social media after this year’s Bloody Sunday March. This occurred when I called on Helen as a Bloody Sunday March Committee member for accountability over this year’s poster, committee membership and finances. This exchange later descended into name calling and the hurling of insults both ways, which is not uncommon behaviour for Helen or myself. Following this I was blocked from Helen’s facebook page and then to my disbelief, became the subject of scurrilous claims published in the Belfast Telegraph. 

Since that time I have been on a mission to clear my name. I personally would have been content to leave my efforts at the article in The Pensive Quill which provided me with the opportunity to set the record straight, but decided to pursue the matter for my wife and Grandchild’s sake. My wife, who suffers from a litany of health issues from the time she spent in Armagh Gaol as a POW, was concerned that Helen Deery’s claims left us vulnerable to attack as a family. What further concerned my wife was the dissemination of this Fake News on social media by Kate Nash who not only knew the information to be false but as with Helen knows my wife and I personally. See previous article for more information on this.

I attempted to resolve the issue through the Belfast Telegraph and with the Journalist who penned the article. Unfortunately this did not prove fruitful. The attitude of the journalist was shocking and the Belfast Telegraph chose to ignore me.

My next move was to contact the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) and register a complaint. IPSO is an independent body which regulates the press. Over the past few months I have provided IPSO with a full dossier of information to disprove the lies peddled by Helen Deery. As part of this lengthy process there was an engagement with the paper’s legal representatives.

Although resolute in my position a telling moment was when ISPO through their mediation process asked a legal representative if Helen Derry had any evidence to substantiate her claim that I had been ‘Trolling her since her brothers inquest’ to which the reply was a simple ’no’.





In the poster above you will see a small sample of the abuse levelled at me following the publication of the article in the Belfast Telegraph. As you will see this abuse included not only attacks on me but threats against me. So here are the facts as accepted now by the Belfast Telegraph: 




The article published was misleading, which is the legally sound way of saying it was full of lies. The ‘misleading’ elements include:

·         The myth that I had been trolling Helen Deery when this was nothing more than a two way spat on social media at the end of which Helen decided to use her victim status to sell it as something more sinister in the press in a bid to silence my call for accountability from the Bloody Sunday March Committee she is part of.

·         The claim that Helen had never spoken to me. A claim concocted to fit in with the public perception of what a troll is when Helen Deery and Kate Nash know my wife and I personally and have done since 2015 when we supported them in highlighting the legacy elements of the Stormont House Agreement.


I am now calling on those who thought it acceptable to hurl abuse at me online when this article was published to publicly retract and apologise for their comments. I am also publicly calling on the Bloody Sunday March Committee to dismiss Helen Deery and Kate Nash with immediate effect. If they do not do this I can only infer that this is acceptance of this reprehensible and dangerous behaviour and that it is representative of the position of the March Committee. This with committee members having publicly supported Helen when the article was published. These members include those currently involved in Stormont funded projects aimed at promoting inclusivity, human rights, justice & peace.

From a Belfast perspective there is an insidious undercurrent permeating through certain things in Derry. This has been clear for a few years now. With this undercurrent the same names appear time and time again with the odd sock puppet from Tyrone thrown in for good measure. These people who seem to have nothing positive to offer are famous for their levelling of baseless allegations online, spouting off about ‘agents of influence’ and attempting to blacken names and reputations via their various online kangaroo courts during which there is never a shred of evidence produced, just accusation, insinuation and innuendo (sound familiar?). I faced this rough justice for asking a couple of questions. Others, including friends, and have faced much worse.

It’s time for the people of Derry to face this cancer down. We’ve faced down the British Empire and everything it threw at us, so why bow down now to venomous charlatans masquerading as something they most definitely are not?

In closing, as I learned over the past few months, there are ways to take the press to task when required. The process is lengthy and can be infuriating, with the burden of proof placed upon you as the complainant. But when you have honesty on your side it can be done. Just look at me - I have overcome!

Marty Flynn is a Belfast republican who has actively campaigned for prisoners' rights.

I Have Overcome!

Marty Flynn feels totally vindicated by the IPSO inquiry into his claim that he had been smeared in a Belfast Telegraph article.

Why do people tell lies Granda? This was a question posed by one of my grandchildren in the wake of lies and false allegations made against me in the press a few months ago. My grandchild had heard snippets of a discussion in our home about the incident and was upset. I explained the situation to the child as best as I could and reassured the child that I would deal with this matter; that it is wrong to tell lies on any person. I also explained that telling the truth was always the best thing to do, even if some people didn’t like to hear it, as was the case in this situation.

You may recall an article I published in The Pensive Quill a few months ago entitled ‘trolling the facts’. If not, the article was based on a number of false claims made about me by Derry based ‘victims campaigner’ Helen Deery in an article published in the Belfast Telegraph on 14 February 2018. This article received a lot of attention as you would expect, with people quick to believe the content as provided by Helen Deery and accepted by the journalist without question. Whilst I wasn’t named in the article my identity was made known by ‘human rights campaigner’ Kate Nash prior to the articles publication in a communication which can only be described as malicious.





To clarify, Helen Deery’s dash to the press followed a heated exchange between Helen and I on social media after this year’s Bloody Sunday March. This occurred when I called on Helen as a Bloody Sunday March Committee member for accountability over this year’s poster, committee membership and finances. This exchange later descended into name calling and the hurling of insults both ways, which is not uncommon behaviour for Helen or myself. Following this I was blocked from Helen’s facebook page and then to my disbelief, became the subject of scurrilous claims published in the Belfast Telegraph. 

Since that time I have been on a mission to clear my name. I personally would have been content to leave my efforts at the article in The Pensive Quill which provided me with the opportunity to set the record straight, but decided to pursue the matter for my wife and Grandchild’s sake. My wife, who suffers from a litany of health issues from the time she spent in Armagh Gaol as a POW, was concerned that Helen Deery’s claims left us vulnerable to attack as a family. What further concerned my wife was the dissemination of this Fake News on social media by Kate Nash who not only knew the information to be false but as with Helen knows my wife and I personally. See previous article for more information on this.

I attempted to resolve the issue through the Belfast Telegraph and with the Journalist who penned the article. Unfortunately this did not prove fruitful. The attitude of the journalist was shocking and the Belfast Telegraph chose to ignore me.

My next move was to contact the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) and register a complaint. IPSO is an independent body which regulates the press. Over the past few months I have provided IPSO with a full dossier of information to disprove the lies peddled by Helen Deery. As part of this lengthy process there was an engagement with the paper’s legal representatives.

Although resolute in my position a telling moment was when ISPO through their mediation process asked a legal representative if Helen Derry had any evidence to substantiate her claim that I had been ‘Trolling her since her brothers inquest’ to which the reply was a simple ’no’.





In the poster above you will see a small sample of the abuse levelled at me following the publication of the article in the Belfast Telegraph. As you will see this abuse included not only attacks on me but threats against me. So here are the facts as accepted now by the Belfast Telegraph: 




The article published was misleading, which is the legally sound way of saying it was full of lies. The ‘misleading’ elements include:

·         The myth that I had been trolling Helen Deery when this was nothing more than a two way spat on social media at the end of which Helen decided to use her victim status to sell it as something more sinister in the press in a bid to silence my call for accountability from the Bloody Sunday March Committee she is part of.

·         The claim that Helen had never spoken to me. A claim concocted to fit in with the public perception of what a troll is when Helen Deery and Kate Nash know my wife and I personally and have done since 2015 when we supported them in highlighting the legacy elements of the Stormont House Agreement.


I am now calling on those who thought it acceptable to hurl abuse at me online when this article was published to publicly retract and apologise for their comments. I am also publicly calling on the Bloody Sunday March Committee to dismiss Helen Deery and Kate Nash with immediate effect. If they do not do this I can only infer that this is acceptance of this reprehensible and dangerous behaviour and that it is representative of the position of the March Committee. This with committee members having publicly supported Helen when the article was published. These members include those currently involved in Stormont funded projects aimed at promoting inclusivity, human rights, justice & peace.

From a Belfast perspective there is an insidious undercurrent permeating through certain things in Derry. This has been clear for a few years now. With this undercurrent the same names appear time and time again with the odd sock puppet from Tyrone thrown in for good measure. These people who seem to have nothing positive to offer are famous for their levelling of baseless allegations online, spouting off about ‘agents of influence’ and attempting to blacken names and reputations via their various online kangaroo courts during which there is never a shred of evidence produced, just accusation, insinuation and innuendo (sound familiar?). I faced this rough justice for asking a couple of questions. Others, including friends, and have faced much worse.

It’s time for the people of Derry to face this cancer down. We’ve faced down the British Empire and everything it threw at us, so why bow down now to venomous charlatans masquerading as something they most definitely are not?

In closing, as I learned over the past few months, there are ways to take the press to task when required. The process is lengthy and can be infuriating, with the burden of proof placed upon you as the complainant. But when you have honesty on your side it can be done. Just look at me - I have overcome!

Marty Flynn is a Belfast republican who has actively campaigned for prisoners' rights.

6 comments:

  1. I wonder if Marty Flynn could confirm if he wrote this piece and the other piece mentioned at the beginning of it?

    In my opinion, most certainly not. I see the finger prints of the real author all over it, in particular the previous one which was littered with references to that person.

    When I saw the first piece and recognised the true author I got confirmation of what I had believed from the outset and subsequently removed Marty from my friends list.

    I know who I believe, regardless of what something the size of a postage stamp says, and that's three pensioners who spent their lives fighting injustice, who kept the annual Bloody Sunday march going when Sinn Fein attempted to bring it to an end and who continued to lead thousands on the route of the original march. Three pensioners who are now the target of sinister elements who clearly want to do what Sinn Fein couldn't do.

    Kate, Linda and Helen.

    Of course you need only look at both pieces to see the attacks on the Bloody Sunday Committee to realise what's at play here.

    Must certainly the poster was a major fuck up and there's no doubt about that, it gave those who wanted to wreck the march all the ammunition they needed. I believe that the committee have learned from their mistake and I hope that people will continue to attend a march which has endured the years and continues to endure.

    If not the Brits are the only winners...



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  2. Dixie I think Marty has made himself very clear and it is irrelevant if anyone helped him write or proof read what he wanted to say..I get the impression that you are trying to mix by insinuation of something. I don't respect whatever it is you are attempting to do.

    Marty has been vindicated and no-one should have a problem wish that. Whatever Helen believed is clearly wrong ... if a troll was at work then they have scored. Marty was correct to followup up on things as he did but in away there are no winners. especially if you are continuing to try and maintain the trolls mix.

    I think the whole affair has had a very negative impact on the Bloody Sunday March. The issue of accountability remains but that is not in anyway a slur on the Nash sisters whom I continue to have much regard for.

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  3. Its comes as no surprise to me that those who were vocal in support of that discredited march which to date no rational explanation has been proffered re that poster and hence no lessons learned , are still willing to accept that the lies told by Helen Derry and co , and printed in the Tele. Only to be retracted by the Good OLe Unionist Belfast Tele ,who did so only because they had to when confronted by the truth,to engage in any sensible debate is akin to pissing into the wind with someone who with a blinkered willingness to be led by the nose who still cant accept the truth,the liar Derry has been exposed ,

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  4. It’s clear now by the comments, who these agents of influence are. Against the face of lies the man is vindicated. Yet the troll keeps on trolling. Well done Marty.

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  5. Martin sorry to hear of what you went through, but kudos for taking on the Belfast Telegraph.I’ve heard people balk at the thought of going through IPSO, maybe that’s why some of the Sunday rags get away with printing so much rubbish unchallenged. I also hope your grandchild and wife are ok and can understand how children can become anxious when something is impacting on a family member.

    I honestly do have to say I’m dismayed by this, I can’t believe someone would stoop so low and go to the press telling lies about someone especially for asking questions. Most people have seen the posts on social media about how the 3 grannies have been getting a tough time and as Dixie pointed out a lot of this has been coming from the shinners. But the facts are there and the Tele would not be printing anything that shows them in a bad light if they didn’t have to.

    But this is a bit weird, I was looking at the link to the ‘Stormont funded group’ Martin Flynn refers to and there’s a few things that should raise eyebrows that Martin and other people from outside of Derry mightn't know.
    The amount of money this group ‘Gaslight Media Trust’ is getting is unreal, I’ve friends who work in the CVS and they said the amount of money is staggering for a mickey mouse outfit, Money through the ofmfdm through the Community Relations Council and through the European Peace IV fund. I had to google Gaslight to find out what they do & who they are as no one I knew had heard of them and we’re talking hundreds of thousands of pounds! You don’t get that sort of money without being aligned to someone on the inside!

    The building Gaslight are based in is a known Sinn Fein building, has been for years. It was at the centre of the alleged bugging of John Hume’s house in the early 1990’s – he lives a few doors way. Tar Abhaile are based there, CRJ are based there, the Gasyard Trust was based there and the Pat Finucane centre was located there too with if I’m right Paul O’Connor of the Finucane centre was a director of Gaslight Media Trust and to top it all off the building at 1 West End Park is owned by Derry Taxis aka sinn fein.

    Derry Taxis have one Director Andrew McCartney former Derry Sinn Fein Chairman and brother of Sinn Fein MLA Raymond McCartney. CRJ in Derry is headed up by Noel McCartney another McCartney brother again a high ranking Shinner.

    Another bizarre thing are the Directors of Gaslight one of the them was a leading RNU member and if my memory is right he spoke at an Easter commemoration that Anthony McIntyre spoke at in Derry a few years back and I think another one had ties to Eirigi? These are facts in the public domain, don’t take my word for it. If you click the link on the article it will take you to Companies House Gaslight Media Trust Page, if you click the people tab you will see the list of Gaslight Media Trust directors, if you click the filings tab you can download their accounts and documents etc.

    Do the same for Derry Taxis check the documents even aul Jamsie Quinn who was Martin McGuinness’ ‘bodyguard’ was a director at one point. Now the only director is Andrew McCartney. And if you are so inclined you could nip into land registry and they can confirm who the building is registered to.

    This whole thing leaves me with more bloody questions, if you were a member of a justice committee battling against british/Stormont injustice and elements of a political party were constantly abusing you why would you rent an office from them in a building synonymous with that party? How is this company getting so much money through its books for doing so little and what it does do seems to fit right in with Stormont’s agenda which is revisionism at best. What is the connection between Gaslight and the Bloody Sunday March for Justice? Are these people riding 2 horses? It makes you think that maybe that poster at the root of the controversy was deliberately designed to cause division. Maybe somebody can shed some light on all this, I tell you the mind truly boggles.

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