Statement by TUV North Belfast spokesperson Ron McDowell:
“The inclusion of convicted IRA terrorist Bobby Sands in a portrait of former Sinn Fein mayor Danny Baker is a gross insult to the many victims of Republican terrorism not just in Belfast but across Northern Ireland. Sands has no electoral connection to Belfast having, sadly, been elected in Fermanagh and South Tyrone in a result which poisoned community relations for generations. Sands’s only contribution to life in Belfast was to bomb a furniture company.
“The contempt for those who suffered is nauseating, compounded by the fact that hard-pressed ratepayers have had to foot the bill.
“The portrait is unfit for display in City Hall where the job of the Lord Mayor is to represent all. It should be removed from display and the bill for painting it should be paid by Sinn Fein”.