Sinn Féin demand explanation as portrait of President is removed
Following a social media post by Ms Kelly, Sinn Féin councillors were quick to notice that a portrait of Mr Higgins had been removed from a reception parlour in the building.
Sinn Féin has now called on Ms Kelly to explain the decision to remove the portrait. Lord Mayor of Belfast Tracy Kelly. Pic: Belfast City Council
The portrait had been placed in the reception room by Sinn Féin's Ryan Murphy when he was lord mayor. The picture was put up after Mr Murphy received a portrait of King Charles and decided to place the two side by side. This was then followed by a formal event to mark the occasion.
The portrait's disappearance prompted Mr Murphy to question its whereabouts in a council meeting on Tuesday.
Belfast City Council confirmed that the portrait, despite no longer being on display, is being safely stored at City Hall, 'at the request of the current lord mayor'. President Michael D Higgins. Pic: Joe Giddens –In a council meeting on Tuesday, Mr Murphy praised Ms Kelly on her work so far as the Democratic Unionist Party's (DUP) first female Lord Mayor of Belfast before raising concerns surrounding the removed portrait.
In a transcript of the meeting released by the BBC, Mr Murphy said: 'When our representatives have been in that position of being the mayor, there were certain things that we never took off the walls. There were certain things we felt were off limits.'
The council defended the decision, saying decoration of the City Hall was 'a matter for each individual lord mayor throughout their term in office. Former Lord Mayor Ryan Murphy. Pic: Belfast City Council
Mr Murphy said there was 'no rationale behind the removal of this portrait', asking, 'What kind of message does it send out for the people in this city who hold the President of Ireland in high regard?'
The DUP said that 'decoration of the lord mayor's parlour is not yet complete' and that 'there will be further artefacts to be added in the next few weeks'.
Mr Murphy described the initial placement of the portrait as a symbolic means of representing the many communities of Belfast, saying, 'a large section of the community in Belfast have a deep respect for Uachtarán na hÉireann and that was reflected in the presence of the portrait in City Hall'.
He told Extra.ie: 'The mayor of Belfast has a responsibility to promote respect and tolerance for all traditions in our city.'
This isn't the first time controversy has arisen surrounding the placement of portraits in Belfast City Hall. In 2011, Sinn Féin lord mayor Niall Ó Donnghaile upset unionists after removing pictures of the Queen Mother and Prince Philip from the reception parlour.
He replaced them with the 1916 Proclamation and a portrait of the United Irishmen, sparking outrage from DUP councillors at the time.
Last October, there was controversy after the PSNI opened an investigation into damage caused to a portrait of former DUP lord mayor Wallace Browne at Belfast City Hall. The PSNI would later declare it a hate crime. A Sinn Féin employee from Stormont later came forward to the party's chief whip, admitting to causing the damage and later tendering their resignation.
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