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.

[10] 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.

As it coincided with the 42nd anniversary of the Kingsmill massacre—where the Provisional Irish Republican Army murdered ten Protestant civilians—unionists accused him of mocking the massacre and the video was widely criticised, including by nationalists.

Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster said "mocking is depraved" and called the video "inhuman".

[16] 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.