A community group in Derry has apologised after sharing images on social media of its youth club members posing with imitation firearms alongside a UVF banner.
Members of the youth club were pictured with an array of imitation machine guns during an “educational tour” of Belfast organised by the Lincoln Courts Youth and Community Association.
The community group is based in the predominantly unionist Waterside area of Derry and receives the majority of its funding from the National Lottery Community Fund.
The social media post, dated November 30, was later edited to exclude the images of the children with the guns.
In a statement provided to The Irish News, a spokesperson for the Lincoln Courts Youth and Community Association said sharing the images was an “error of judgement”.
“A recent trip by our youth project included an educational visit to an established history museum in East Belfast.
“The group were shown decommissioned weapons to learn about firearms that were used during conflicts, under the instruction of museum staff.
“Some photos were taken of young people handling these and were shared on our social media channels. We acknowledge that this was an error of judgement and we regret any misunderstanding caused.”
The statement added that the community group was proud to have built strong “cross community and cross border relationships” for over 25 years, including trips to the Bloody Sunday Museum and Glasnevin Cemetery.
“This visit was part of a cross-community youth project which involves educational visits that focus on local history and The Troubles.
“Led by experienced youth workers, these trips represent many stories from our past and help educate young people, promote conversations around different viewpoints and encourage tolerance and reconciliation.
“Our work in this area also reinforces the message that those who forget history are condemned to repeat it.
“All trips have involved wider education sessions. These photos in no way represent the great work we deliver to improve the lives of people living in the North West.”
The National Lottery Community Fund said it is currently investigating the matter.
“We can confirm that Lincoln Courts Youth and Community Association has received National Lottery funding,” a spokesperson said.
“We’re aware of images on social media posted by this group and are currently investigating the matter. It would be inappropriate for us to comment further at this stage.”
Foyle SDLP MLA Sinéad McLaughlin said the images were “deeply disheartening” to see.
Ms McLaughlin said: “We have many fantastic community groups in our city who do great work supporting local young people, but it’s deeply disheartening to see young children posing proudly with weapons or replicas in this context.
“It disappointing that what looked like a good day out for young people from this community in Belfast has been overshadowed by this incident.
“I hope that the deleting of these images is an acknowledgement that this shouldn’t have happened and that lessons will be learned so that something like this doesn’t happen again in future.”