A Fermanagh and Omagh District Councillor who was once suspended from his party for historic posts on social media which were described as “racist” has come under scrutiny again about a new, controversial social media post.

A post on UUP Councillor Victor Warrington’s Facebook page showed a dinghy with migrants on board at sea with the caption, “Chelsea squad crossing English Channel in their second leg”.

The Facebook post relates to the current sanctions which have been imposed on Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who owns Chelsea Football Club. Chelsea can continue to pay players and staff wages.

In 2019, this newspaper reported on an historic Facebook post from Councillor Warrington in 2012 that emerged which were described as racist, discriminatory against disabled and Down syndrome people for its description of a Chinese Paralympic five-a-side team.

Further posts emerged of him using the work “Fe**an” and “T**ker”. Councillor Warrington apologised for the posts, and deleted his social media page following the revelations.

The UUP removed the party whip from Councillor Warrington and carried out an investigation into the posts; however, it was restored without any findings from the investigation being released.

Now, three years later, the Erne East Councillor is again the focus of the pitfalls of social media. When contacted by The Impartial Reporter, neither Councillor Warrington nor the UUP responded to a request for comment.

However, speaking to The Sunday Life, Councillor Warrington defended his dinghy post, and also denied he is racist, saying: “What can I say about it? Anybody who takes that up as being racialist ... It’s nothing to do with migrants.”

Councillor Warrington added: “Unfortunately, our country has went mad with political correctness. You can’t open your mouth, and certainly when you’re in the public eye so much, it makes it more difficult.

“I never intended at any time to be racist to anybody or anything,” he stated.