Bobby Sands statue investigated by council planners

Belfast City Council is investigating a statue of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands after it was erected without planning permission.

The statue of the former MP was unveiled on Sunday in an Irish republican memorial garden in the Twinbrook area of west Belfast.

First Minister Michelle O'Neill and other elected representatives from Sinn Féin were among those who attended on the day.

The council 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," a spokesman said in a statement.

In a statement a Sinn Féin spokesman said: "This is a matter for the organising committee."

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.

O'Neill, vice-president of Sinn Féin, on Sunday described it as a "powerful tribute".

"Bobby's life and sacrifice continues to inspire people here in Ireland and across the world in pursuit of freedom and justice," she said on X, formerly Twitter.

The Democratic Unionist Party's (DUP) deputy leader Michelle McIlveen said: "Bobby Sands was a convicted criminal who apparently thought that a united Ireland would be advanced by bombing a furniture company.

"Now that controversy has arisen over the apparent failure to either secure or even apply for planning permission for this statue, Sinn Féin attempt to pass the blame onto 'the organising committee' despite virtually all publicity in the lead-up to the event being driven by Sinn Féin representatives.

"We are all well aware of Sinn Féin's approach to laws, regulations and rules so we shouldn't be surprised that the first minister and her colleagues have failed to carry out basic due diligence in regard to planning permission for statues they are helping to unveil."

Danny Morrison, secretary of the Bobby Sands Trust, said it "was not involved in this initiative".

"We doubt if anyone locally would object to the statue," he added in a statement.

Mr Morrison said there are "many monuments to Bobby around the world, streets have been named after him, books written and films made about him".

"The statue represents nationalists and republicans honouring with pride what the prisoners and their families suffered," he added.

According to its website, Belfast City Council "can investigate breaches of planning controls" in circumstances including where "building work which needs planning permission is undertaken without approval".

In a statement a council spokesman said: "Planning permission 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."