{"id":60906,"date":"2025-04-29T18:40:16","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T18:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/60906\/"},"modified":"2025-04-29T18:40:16","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T18:40:16","slug":"new-statue-of-bobby-sands-deeply-troubling-says-dup-councillor-who-lived-next-door-to-hunger-striker-as-a-child","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/60906\/","title":{"rendered":"New statue of Bobby Sands \u2018deeply troubling\u2019 says DUP councillor who lived next door to hunger striker as a child"},"content":{"rendered":"

The memorial statue of the hunger striker and former MP is to be unveiled on Sunday afternoon at the Republican Memorial Garden, Gardenmore Road in Twinbrook.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The first hunger striker, Bobby Sands<\/p>\n

News Catch Up – Tuesday 29 April <\/p>\n

The event is part of a day commemorating Sands, who died on May 5 during the 1981 Maze prison protests, aged 27, where he was serving 14 years for his role in helping to plan the 1976 Balmoral Furniture Company bombing in Dunmurry. <\/p>\n

It was followed by a gun battle with the RUC.<\/p>\n

Sands was arrested while trying to escape and sentenced for firearms possession.<\/p>\n

\"PACEMAKER<\/p>\n

PACEMAKER BELFAST
\nBobby Sands (right) pictured with other IRA inmates in Long Kesh summer 1980<\/p>\n

Alison Bennington is now a DUP representative for Glengormley on Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up next door to Bobby Sands,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe played together and he even helped build the bonfire in Rathcoole.<\/p>\n

“Let\u2019s be clear though, Bobby Sands decided to become part of the PIRA, a group responsible for decades of terrorism which left Northern Ireland with a legacy of death and trauma. He was convicted in 1976 and sentenced to 14 years in prison.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is deeply troubling to see public representatives organising an event to unveil a statue honouring Bobby Sands,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis event is not a neutral act of remembrance, but a glorification of an individual who was part of a terrorist organisation that inflicted immense suffering on innocent people.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonouring figures associated with paramilitary violence undermines efforts toward genuine reconciliation and peace. We should be focusing on remembering innocent victims of the Troubles and helping survivors, not elevating individuals with terror convictions whose legacy is inseparable from violence.<\/p>\n

\"DUP<\/p>\n

DUP councillor on Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, Alison Bennington<\/p>\n

\u201cTrue peace is built on justice and respect for innocent victims, not the romanticising of terrorism and the rewriting of history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s events will begin with the annual Bobby Sands Walk on Divis Mountain at 9.45am and following the unveiling of the statue, for which an extensive fundraising campaign has been organised, the day will conclude with the Bobby Sands Lecture in Andersonstown Social Club.<\/p>\n

\"Poster<\/p>\n

Poster for the event this Sunday<\/p>\n

The unveiling ceremony will be chaired by West Belfast MLA Danny Baker, who said it will be a \u201chugely significant occasion\u201d for the community as \u201cwe gather to honour and remember Bobby Sands and all those who died on hunger strike during Ireland\u2019s struggle for freedom. Former Republican Prisoner and hunger striker, Pat Sheehan MLA, will deliver a keynote speech.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would be honoured if you and your family would join us for this special occasion as we pay tribute to Bobby\u2019s courage, sacrifice, and enduring legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said it would be a \u201cpowerful and dignified occasion to honour his legacy and rededicate ourselves to achieving a new and united Ireland\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr Baker caused controversy after his time as Mayor of Belfast in 2019\/20.<\/p>\n

When his \u00a315,000 official portrait was unveiled in 2022 it included an image of Sands on the windowsill in the background.<\/p>\n

Victims of IRA terror, including Sammy Heenan, who was 12 years old when his father William was murdered on May 3, 1985, outside his Co Down home, called the portrait \u201cobscene and repugnant\u201d and called for \u201ca real change within the nationalist community to try and change this behaviour for future generations\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSadly, people in our society are still romanticising the brutality that the IRA inflicted for many years through this glorified prism, and Sinn Fein are once again to the fore of this,\u201d he added at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis normalising of imagery of people like Bobby Sands is all designed to condition the mindsets of the current generation, that there is a legitimacy to terrorism.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way the republican movement uplifts Bobby Sands as an icon of fighting for privilege and fighting against the British regime is only forgetting that at the end of the day, he was a criminal and was convicted as such, so he should be treated with the contempt he deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sinn Fein have been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The memorial statue of the hunger striker and former MP is to be unveiled on Sunday afternoon at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60907,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[31519,924,17698,1144,31520,11528,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-60906","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-danny-baker","9":"tag-democratic-unionist-party","10":"tag-mark-bain","11":"tag-northern-ireland","12":"tag-pat-sheehan","13":"tag-sinn-fein","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114422718608322058","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}