In 1992 McElduff was given an 18-month suspended sentence for assisting the
Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) in the
false imprisonment of a suspected police informer. At the
1992 general election, he unsuccessfully contested
Mid Ulster. He was elected to the
Northern Ireland Forum for the
West Tyrone constituency in 1996, and has since held this seat on the
Northern Ireland Assembly. McElduff has chaired the Culture, Arts and Leisure Committee of the Assembly and has served previously on other committees, including Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister, Education and Employment and Learning. In 2000, McElduff was elected to
Omagh District Council. In 2012, McElduff and
Lord Laird visited Scotland to learn more about potential
Scottish independence. At the
snap general election held on 8 June 2017, he became MP for West Tyrone. McElduff is known for performing comedy sets at Sinn Féin events, and in 2015 performed a
stand-up gig in Omagh. He is also known for posting comedic videos on
social media. McElduff has published two books: ''Keep er' Lit
(2012) contains short stories and anecdotes from his experiences of republicanism, Gaelic games and community activism, while Sustain the Flame'' (2015) looks back at his forays into social media. McElduff deleted it and apologised, saying he was not alluding to the massacre and offering to meet the victims' families. On 8 January, Sinn Féin apologised for McElduff's actions, condemned the video, and suspended him from Sinn Féin for three months. McElduff announced on 15 January that he was resigning his seat. On 16 January the Chancellor of the Exchequer appointed Barry McElduff as the
Steward and Bailiff of the Three Hundreds of Chiltern, a nominal
office of profit under the Crown which causes the holder's parliamentary seat to be vacated. ==See also==