Stormont parties clash over 'Sinn Féin billboard'

Stormont's infrastructure minister has defended her response to a billboard linked to Sinn Féin on public land.

Liz Kimmins faced questions in the Northern Ireland Assembly as parties clashed over the hoarding at the Egyptian Arch on Camlough Road outside Newry.

Her party was accused of erecting the billboard, which in the past has displayed Sinn Féin slogans and currently carries a message for Palestinian children.

Kimmins insisted "there is no Sinn Féin billboard", while the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) described the situation as "beyond parody".

The billboard was discussed at Stormont on Tuesday after the DUP tabled a motion calling for its removal.

It followed a letter to the infrastructure committee in which Kimmins said there were "no plans" to remove the display as it posed a "low risk to road users".

Kimmins, an assembly member for Newry and Armagh, said the billboard appeared to be sited across land owned by her department as well as privately owned land.

She told the committee that the Department for Infrastructure had twice requested the removal of the billboard - firstly in August 2023 and again in November last year.

DUP assembly member Gareth Wilson said the minister's letter "raises many more questions than it actually answers".

He accused the minister of a "blatant disregard for policy and an apparent abdication of responsibility".

His party colleague Jonathan Buckley described the situation as "beyond parody".

Sinn Féin assembly member Cathal Boylan said the "faux outrage" over the billboard was "nothing short of ridiculous".

He said assembly members should discuss "toxic, hate-filled" bonfires if they were "serious about illegal displays".

Alliance Party assembly member Andrew McMurray said that "scrutiny must go right across Northern Ireland in relation to the erection of paraphernalia on public property".

Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) assembly member John Stewart said it was "frustrating that we are dedicating any time to this when there is an easy resolution".

He said the displays had remained in place "because quite simply they are Sinn Féin boards" and the minister "could have taken action".

Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) assembly member Matthew O'Toole, leader of the opposition in the assembly, described how the billboard had previously displayed a Sinn Féin message in support of a united Ireland.

He said that "Sinn Féin posters" were not going to "persuade people of a united Ireland - it might actually turn the odd person off it".

Responding in the assembly, the infrastructure minister said "there is no Sinn Féin billboard" and described the debate as "all based on something that's in the past".

Kimmins also described the exchanges in the chamber as a "pantomime".

"Are members now seriously asking me that I now direct my limited staffing resources from filling potholes to now looking at all of the posters that are erected all over the north?"

She said the billboard was "considered to pose a low risk to road safety" and there was "no obstruction" to traffic or sight lines.