Kate Hoey hits out at plan for publicly-funded £150,000 statue to 19th century American abolitionist in Belfast

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in America and went on to become a major anti-slavery campaigner.

His statue will stand in Lombard Street, a largely-pedestrian side-street, off the busy High Street, after Belfast City Council’s planning committee approved it this month.

It will be funded jointly by the council and the Department for Communities.

Baroness Hoey said: “I can think of better ways for Belfast City Council to spend £150,000.

"I think statues like this one should come about with donations from people living in the city or elsewhere, who want to recognise and commemorate a figure they greatly respect.

"The local council should not be paying for it out of our rates, which in Belfast are very high, and neither should a Stormont department when they are having to make difficult decisions about financial cuts.

"What criteria have the council used to agree this? Who else do they want to erect a statue to?

"This opens up a Pandora’s box and seems like like gesture politics.”

The life-sized bronze statue is set to be 8ft tall, including the plinth, and will stand roughly opposite Caffe Nero, between the Monico Bars pub and Rosemary Street Non-Subscribing Presbyterian church.

The council’s PR department told the News Letter: “The statue will cost an estimated £150,000, and is being funded by the council and the Department for Communities.

"The installation date is still to be confirmed, but it is anticipated that it will be in place by the summer.”

On the cost, it added: “The budget for the Frederick Douglass statue was established following a benchmarking exercise which considered the cost of other bronze figurative sculpture commissions.

"The artist was selected following a competitive two-stage procurement exercise.”

It did not say who the artist was.

Mr Douglass first visited Belfast in 1845 at the invitation of the Belfast Anti-Slavery Society, and returned for a second visit in 1846.

By that stage slavery was largely outlawed by Britain, but it would take the best part of another two decades for the same thing to happen in America.

During his time in the city he gave 11 talks about slavery, including at the Rosemary Street church, a stone's-throw from where his statue will be.

According to the website FrederickDouglassInBritain.com, Daniel O'Connell, the Irish Catholic rights advocate, dubbed Mr Douglass "the black O'Connell".

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