THE SDLP last night said its councillors "should bring a motion to rename" a Co Down playpark named after an IRA man if the matter "is not resolved" in the coming weeks.
It comes after a motion calling for Newry, Mourne and Down council to remove Raymond McCreesh's name from a park in Newry failed.
Unionists had put the motion forward on Monday, but an amendment by Sinn Féin councillors was accepted instead. It argued that the council should continue with a review into play facilities in the district, as agreed at a meeting in December.
The amendment was supported by all but two of the SDLP members.
However, an SDLP spokesperson last night said councillors should be aware the party "does not support the naming of public spaces after those involved in the violence of the past" and "should bring a motion to rename" the park if the issue is not resolved.
It comes after SDLP MLA Claire Hanna also criticised the decision taken by her party colleagues.
"Particularly in week reflecting on the [Good Friday] Agreement and celebrating the values in it, saddened by the vote in Newry," she wrote on Twitter.
"This wasn’t a time for whataboutery and rushing to repeat mistakes of the past. It was and is wrong to name a kids playground for anyone linked to Kingsmill."
The play park was named after McCreesh in 2001 and has been the subject of intense political and legal wrangling over the last decade.
When arrested in 1976, McCreesh was reportedly in possession of a rifle used in the sectarian Kingsmill Massacre, in which 10 Protestant men were murdered as they were returning from work.
He died on hunger strike in prison in 1981.
The last unionist motion to re-name the playground was rejected in December when 13 SDLP councillors voted with 10 Sinn Féin councillors to choose the public consultation option, saying they did so to "avoid stoking tensions".
SDLP councillor Gary Stokes has said he believed the review process will be completed within weeks.
But UUP councillor David Taylor said he was "extremely angry and disappointed" that the motion had been voted down on Monday, while the DUP's Billy Walker said "the behaviour of all those who supported this amendment was truly shameful".
An SDLP spokesperson last night said: "The SDLP does not support the naming of public spaces after those involved in the violence of the past.
"SDLP party conference at the weekend unanimously reaffirmed this position. This children's play park should never have been named in this way.
"A cross party consensus was reached at Newry, Mourne and Down District council to follow a process to delist the play park.
"The councillors' assessment of the actions by the DUP last night was that this was political opportunism and they decided to vote to stick with the agreed process to resolve the issue once and for all.
"The SDLP leadership is crystal clear that this naming was wrong and has caused hurt to victims.
"The councillors are in no doubt from the leadership that if the matter is not resolved in coming weeks via the process parties agreed to, then they should bring a motion to rename."
