A Derry newsagent has hit out at a call from the local council for shops not to stock the Sun newspaper.
Derry City and Strabane District Council last week supported a motion which requested that local newsagents stop selling the British tabloid newspaper.
The motion also asked that the council support a group called ‘Total Eclipse of the S*n’ which has been set up to ask shops not to stock the ‘Sun’.
The motion was put forward by independent councillor Paul Gallagher.
Speaking at the council’s monthly meeting in the Guildhall on Thursday, Cllr Gallagher accused the Sun of ”telling after lies after lies” about different sections of society, including Irish people and the black ethnic community.
He accused the paper of “criminalising” Irish people.
Cllr Gallagher also highlighted the Sun’s treatment of the victims of the Hillsborough tragedy in 1989 when 96 Liverpool fans died following a massive crush at a FA match in the Hillsbrough stadium.
After the tragedy, the Sun published an article on their front page with the headline ‘The Truth’ in which the blame for the tragedy was placed on the Liverpool fans.
When it was put to a vote, 27 councillors, including all the Sinn Fein and SDLP representatives and the majority of the independent councillors, voted in favour of the motion.
The only councillor to vote against it was independent unionist councillor Maurice Devenney.
The other seven unionist councillors at the meeting abstained from voting.
While the council’s motion has no legal authority, the decision has been criticised by one local shopkeeper.
The newsagent, who did not wish to be identified, said he did not think it was the place of a council to tell newsagents what papers they should stock and that it was a principled matter.
He said: “People vote with their feet; and they do. I only sell about 10 copies of The Sun a day but what would happen if I went against the wishes of the council and stocked The Sun?
“I believe, whether you like or dislike a publication, that stockists should not be pressured by local council on what they put on their shelves for sale.”
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