Billboard at centre of lengthy political row removed

A billboard at the centre of a lengthy political row at Stormont has been removed.

The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) confirmed the unauthorised hoarding has been taken down, but said it was not involved in its removal.

For weeks, the structure on Camlough Road in Newry has been a focus of debate having previously displayed Sinn Féin branding and slogans.

A cross-party committee last week renewed calls to remove the billboard after graffiti was daubed on it in support of a man jailed for storing a gun linked to the killing of journalist Lyra McKee.

Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins had previously resisted calls from Northern Ireland Assembly members to remove the structure, saying it posed a "low risk to road users".

But last week the Sinn Féin minister, who is an assembly member for the area, described the recent graffiti as "horrendous".

The graffiti had called for the release of Niall Sheerin, from Tyrconnell Street in Londonderry, who was jailed in 2022.

Council planners had been investigating the billboard, which is located near the A1 Newry bypass.

Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster's Evening Extra last week, Kimmins said the billboard was sited across land owned by DfI as well as privately owned land.

She said it should be considered "through the protocols and the procedures that are in place".

The structure in previous years displayed Sinn Féin branding and slogans and in more recent months displayed a Christmas message about Palestinian children.

There is no suggestion the recent graffiti is linked to Sinn Féin.

In a fresh statement on Monday, a DfI spokesperson said: "The department is aware that the billboard at the Egyptian Arch in Newry has been removed. The department has not been involved in its removal."

A Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) spokesperson also said it "was not involved in the removal of this".

Lyra McKee, who was 29, was observing rioting in the Creggan estate in Derry when she was shot on 18 April 2019.

The dissident republican paramilitary group the New IRA has admitted the killing.

Sheerin was jailed in 2022, then aged 29, after admitting possession of a gun on dates between September 2018 and June 2020.

A judge at Belfast Crown Court said he believed Sheerin was an associate of a "serious terrorist gang who posed a danger to the public".

The judge said he was not sentencing Sheerin in connection with the murder, as the prosecution could not "establish to the requisite standard" he was aware of the specific history of the weapon.

The graffiti was discussed by members of the assembly's infrastructure committee last Wednesday.

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) assembly member Peter Martin, who chairs the committee, said it was "frankly appalling" and urged the minister to intervene.

The committee agreed to write to the minister to ask if she would instruct DfI officials to remove the billboard.

For weeks the billboard has been at the centre of a Stormont row, with the infrastructure minister facing continued questions.

The assembly was told DfI officials had contacted Sinn Féin in 2023 and in November last year requesting the removal of the billboard.

Kimmins last month dismissed calls from other parties to remove the structure.

The minister said it was "considered to pose a low risk to road safety" and it "did not obstruct sight lines" for traffic.

Kimmins called for a "broader discussion" on regulation of displays rather than "single-item issues", pointing to concerns over flags and bonfires.