Sinn Féin employee suspended after damage to portrait

A Sinn Féin worker has been suspended aft admitting their engagement successful an incidental regarding a representation successful Belfast City Hall.

Belfast City Council was investigating aft a representation of a erstwhile lord politician was damaged.

The coating of Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) adjacent Lord Browne was connected show astatine the metropolis hall.

A Sinn Féin spokesperson said the worker was "immediately suspended" and the Police Service of Northern Ireland has been notified.

The employee, who worked successful the Assembly, has resigned from their employment and enactment membership.

The representation was removed from a partition and the solid successful its framework was "smashed", a DUP councillor said.

The assembly said it was "assessing the grade of the harm and looking into the circumstances".

The incidental happened pursuing an lawsuit astatine City Hall connected Saturday evening to observe an Irish connection group's 20th anniversary.

Glór na Móna said they were "extremely disappointed" to larn of the incidental and would assistance the assembly with its investigation.

It said: "Following the ceremonial extremity of our event, a representation wrong metropolis hallway was damaged.

"Glór na Móna had nary cognition of this taking spot and lone became alert of this connected Monday 21 October erstwhile contacted by assembly staff.

"This is wholly contrary to the ethos and principles of our organisation and the tone of our palmy day celebratory event."

Several elder Sinn Féin members were among those seen successful pictures posted online from the metropolis hallway event.

They included erstwhile enactment person Gerry Adams and Aisling Reilly, a inferior curate successful the Northern Ireland Executive.

Sinn Féin was approached for comment.

In a connection the assembly said it hoped the representation could beryllium repaired "as soon arsenic imaginable truthful the representation tin beryllium enactment backmost connected display".

"The representation of erstwhile Lord Mayor Lord Wallace Browne has been removed from nationalist show aft it was damaged implicit the weekend," it said.

“We are presently assessing the grade of the harm and looking into the circumstances which led to the representation being damaged.

"No further enactment has been taken astatine this time."

The incidental comes days aft a representation of erstwhile Belfast Lord Mayor Niall Ó Donnghaile was removed from City Hall.

Party radical leaders connected the assembly agreed the determination unanimously, it is understood.

It followed revelations that Mr Ó Donnghaile discontinue Sinn Féin after sending inappropriate texts to a teenage boy.

Sinn Féin person Mary Lou McDonald told the Dáil (Irish parliament) determination were nary findings of illegality and nary transgression charges were pursued.

The DUP has called for a "full and robust investigation" into the representation of Lord Browne being damaged.

Dean McCullough, the party's lawman radical person connected the council, said it appeared the representation was "removed" from the partition and the solid was "smashed" wrong its frame.

The councillor questioned whether the representation being damaged was "in immoderate mode linked" to the "rightful removal" of Mr Ó Donnghaile's portrait.

"Further, it is worthy highlighting that this peculiar representation was painted by the renowned Jewish artist, Israel Zohar - again, raising another, superior question," helium said.

"Let america beryllium clear, we volition not tolerate the portraits of upstanding nationalist servants, and Democratic Unionists, being damaged successful our metropolis hall."