A Sinn Féin Assembly employee who was suspended by the party after admitting to involvement in the damage of a portrait of a DUP Lord Mayor is the son of a Stormont MLA.
Prominent members of Sinn Féin were in attendance at a Belfast City Hall event where a party employee and member admitted to being involved in the damage of the portrait of former DUP Mayor Wallace Browne.
It has been reported the portrait was removed from the wall and its glass smashed during the incident.
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The Irish News understands the Sinn Féin member who resigned from the party and their role in the Assembly following the incident is the son of one of the party’s MLAs who had been employed by a different Sinn Féin MLA.
A spokesperson for the party declined to provide further details on the incident when contacted by The Irish News.
The party said on Monday that an employee and member had quit the party after an admission of involvement in damage to the portrait, which happened after an event to mark 20 years of west Belfast Irish language group Glór Na Móna. The language group said the incident was “completely contrary to the ethos and principles” of the organisation.
It’s understood DUP councillors had requested CCTV of the incident from Belfast City Council, but were told it was unavailable on the night in question. A Belfast City Council spokesperson said: “The incident which occurred in City Hall in the early hours of Sunday 20 October which resulted in damage to a portrait of Lord Browne is the subject of an active internal and PSNI investigation and as such it would be inappropriate to comment at this time.”
Leading Sinn Féin figures attended the event at Belfast City Hall on Saturday night, including former party president Gerry Adams, Junior Minister Aisling Reilly and West Belfast MP Paul Maskey.
The PSNI say they first received a report of criminal damage to a portrait at City Hall shortly before 5pm on Monday, with the investigation ongoing. The force would not confirm whether any arrests have been made as part of the investigation to date.
The damage caused to the portrait of Lord Mayor Browne came just days after councillors agreed to the removal of a portrait of former Sinn Féin Mayor Niall Ó Donnghaile following his admission to sending inappropriate text messages to teenage boys.
Speaking in the Assembly on Tuesday, DUP North Belfast MLA Philip Brett said the incident was “absolutely disgraceful” and called on Sinn Féin to answer questions relating to it, including whether anyone involved in the incident was connected a sitting member of the Assembly.
