South Belfast Paras banner intimidating, says MLA Claire Hanna
South Belfast MLA Claire Hanna has hit out after tweeting an image of a banner proclaiming support for British soldiers.
The banner pictured in her photograph, on the Lisburn Road in Belfast, is maroon in colour and appears to carry the logo of the Parachute Regiment.
“Lisburn Road supports our soldiers,” it says. “Our soldiers are heroes not criminals.”
Ms Hanna, who recently resigned from the SDLP, tweeted: “This is provocative, divisive and intimidating.
“It is rejected even by the regiment it claims to support and comes on the back of paramilitary emblems erected elsewhere in shared South Belfast. I hope all local elected reps will join me in, at a minimum, calling for it to be removed.”
The actions of Parachute Regiment soldiers in NI are currently under scrutiny in a criminal prosecution and a legacy inquest.