First Minister defends visit to west Belfast statue

First Minister Michelle O’Neill has defended her decision to attend the unveiling of a statue of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands.

The Sinn Féin vice president said it demonstrated her pledge to be a “first minister for all” because she attended a VE Day event afterwards.

“A first minister for all looks like exactly what Sunday looked like for me,” she said.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) had criticised O’Neill’s visit to the statue of the former MP in the Twinbrook area of west Belfast.

The monument is being investigated by Belfast City Council as it was erected without planning permission.

Mr Sands died aged 27 during the 1981 hunger strike, in which 10 republican paramilitary prisoners starved themselves to death.

It was part of a protest in which they sought to be recognised as political prisoners during Northern Ireland’s violent conflict known as the Troubles.

The statue was unveiled to mark 44 years since his death.

Speaking on Thursday, O’Neill told UTV News she was “very honoured” to visit the statue.

“Bobby Sands is a huge figure, a huge iconic figure in terms of republicans here in Ireland, but also in terms of the whole historical political journey that we have been on,” O’Neill said.

“The hunger strikes marked a pivotal time in our history. So I was very honoured to be there and to be part of the ceremony on Sunday.”

She said she attended the Bobby Sands unveiling and then “I went on to attend the service at St Anne’s Cathedral to mark the end of World War II”.

“That’s a first minister for all in actually demonstrating in actions that I will fulfil that promise.”

On Tuesday in the Northern Ireland Assembly, the DUP’s deputy leader said Bobby Sands was “not a freedom fighter” but a “member of a brutal terrorist organisation”.

Michelle McIlveen added: “To honour his legacy is to reopen the wounds of the past.”

She said the “first minister’s attendance in Twinbrook on Sunday was a wilful decision to reopen that hurt”.

Meanwhile, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive has said the statue was erected on its land “without our permission”.

“We can confirm a new memorial was placed on our land in the Twinbrook area of west Belfast,” the housing body said in a statement to the BBC’s Nolan Show.

“This was done without our permission or knowledge and we are currently looking into the situation.”

It comes after Belfast City Council earlier this week said planning approval is “normally required for outdoor public artworks including sculptures and statues that are being installed on a long-term or permanent basis”.

“As the council has not received a planning application for this statue to date, it is investigating the matter and cannot comment further at this time,” it added.

A Sinn Féin spokesman said the issue was “a matter for the organising committee”.

The Bobby Sands Trust said it “was not involved” in the statue plans but it would “doubt if anyone locally would object”.