‘Unbelievable’: Sinn Fein charged with hypocrisy over 1916 plaque

Sinn Fein has been accused of “hypocrisy” for supporting a memorial plaque for an Easter Rising leader at Belfast City Hall, while at the same time vetoing a memorial stone marking 100 years of Northern Ireland at Stormont.
By Adam Kula
Published 27th Mar 2021, 07:00 BST
Images submitted to the council showing where the plaque would go (the black disk)Images submitted to the council showing where the plaque would go (the black disk)
Images submitted to the council showing where the plaque would go (the black disk)

An application has been made to place a sign close to the entrance to City Hall, marking the starting spot for a city-wide tour covering the legacy of James Connolly – a trade unionist and one of the men executed for his role in the 1916 Rising, which left over 480 people dead.

Whilst no decision has yet been taken, the matter could be raised at the next full council meeting next Thursday.

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Alderman Jim Rodgers (UUP man and the city’s longest-serving councillor) said it is “unbelievable” that Sinn Fein only last week scotched plans for a stone sculpture of Northern Ireland at Stormont, but now expect unionists to accede to a plaque honouring a republican rebel.

The saga dates back to January 4, when the leaders of the DUP, UUP and TUV wrote to the Assembly Commission, requesting that space be found somewhere in the Stormont estate for a map of the Province’s six counties, engraved in stone and placed on a plinth.

The map sculpture was to bear the words: “Erected to mark the centenary of Northern Ireland 1921–2021.”

The commission basically runs the grounds at Stormont, and Sinn Fein currently chairs it. And last Thursday Sinn Fein vetoed unionists’ plans for the sculpture, saying that it “reflects only one political perspective”.

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The proposed Connolly City Hall plaque is not directly proposed by Sinn Fein, but it is understood the party strongly supports it.

It would be 12 inches in diameter, and the idea is that it would be the first of 13 such signs across Belfast, making up something called the James Connolly Heritage Trail.

The sign would contain a QR code (akin to a barcode), and when tourists scan it using their phones, a series of information panels will pop up on their screen, all relating to Connolly’s time as a trade union organiser in Belfast.

Alderman Rodgers (now in his 29th year on the council) said: “It smacks of hypocrisy, but it’s not surprising.

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“Along with all decent, reasonable people we’re absolutely sickened and disgusted by the response from Sinn Fein [over the Stormont sculpture].

“And then for them to have the audacity to want this put up at Belfast City Hall is just incredible, but what else do you expect from these people?

“As far as we’re concerned in City Hall, the UUP will not be supporting that under any circumstances. It’s unbelievable.”

The matter had been brought before the council’s Strategic Policy and Resources Committee on March 19.

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The DUP brought forward a motion to defer the matter until council officers could offer an opinion about issues like whether allowing the sign would set a precedent for other tour groups. Despite waiting for this response from officers, it is expected the matter may be raised at the full council meeting on April 1.

Alderman Brian Kingston, leader of the DUP on the council, said the Sinn Fein rejection of the Stormont stone was “petulant”, and that the party’s position “doesn’t stand up to examination”.

Read more from this reporter:

Click here: ‘Banishing Covid restrictions completely may take years – it could become an annual winter virus’

Click here: Twenty-five NI groups sign letter to Robin Swann about ‘women and pregnant people’

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