'Sinn Féin billboard' investigated by council planners

A billboard at the centre of a political row at Stormont is under investigation by council planners after being erected on public land without permission.

The hoarding outside Newry has in recent years displayed Sinn Féin branding and slogans and currently carries a message on Palestinian children.

Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins this week faced calls from other parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly to remove the billboard from her department's land.

The minister, who is an assembly member for the area, denied the structure is a "Sinn Féin billboard" and said it posed a "low risk to road users".

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council confirmed the matter was "under investigation" by its planning department.

The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) said it would "liaise with the council regarding the investigation".

The billboard is located at the Egyptian Arch on Camlough Road near the A1 Newry bypass.

It was the subject of a heated debate at Stormont on Tuesday after the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) tabled a motion calling for its removal.

The debate followed a letter to the assembly's infrastructure committee in which Kimmins said there were "no plans" to remove the display.

She said the billboard appeared to be sited across land owned by her department as well as privately owned land.

The minister told the committee that DfI had twice requested the removal of the billboard - firstly in August 2023 and again in November last year.

Her predecessor in the role John O'Dowd previously said that "Sinn Féin were asked via email" by the department in 2023 to remove the structure.

In the assembly on Tuesday, Kimmins insisted "there is no Sinn Féin billboard" and described the debate as "all based on something that's in the past".

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

DUP assembly member Jonathan Buckley described the situation as "beyond parody".

Internal emails obtained by the BBC's Nolan Show give details of DfI correspondence about the billboard.

In one email in September 2023, a senior DfI engineer asked if "planning enforcement would investigate and if necessary open an enforcement case".

A senior planning enforcement officer at the council also enquired about the billboard in April 2024.

In a statement, a council spokesperson said: "This matter is under investigation by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council's planning department.

"The council therefore is not in a position to make any further comment."

A DfI spokesperson said in a statement: "The department will liaise with the council regarding the investigation.

"Priority is given to the removal of posters/banners that have been erected in contravention of the roads order where this is a clear safety risk."