Ireland

Sinn Fein to unveil portrait of Belfast hunger striker Kieran Doherty in Dail

Kieran Doherty died during the 1981 Hunger Strike
Kieran Doherty died during the 1981 Hunger Strike Kieran Doherty died during the 1981 Hunger Strike

A PORTRAIT of hunger striker Kieran Doherty is to be displayed at the Dail.

Sinn Féin will this week unveil the painting, which will replace a large canvas artwork featuring former Labour leader Ruairí Quinn.

It will be hung in a conference room that Sinn Féin has taken over from Labour. Sinn Féin now has 23 TDs to Labour's seven.

The room had contained a large work depicting figures from the national and international Labour movement.

It included scenes from the 1798 Rising and the French Revolution, and also portrayed Labour leaders and prominent TDs including Dick Spring, Proinsias De Rossa and a full-length representation of Mr Quinn.

The picture was commissioned by Mr Quinn when he was leader. It has now been returned to Labour where it hangs in their new Dail meeting space.

Sinn Féin said it now had a painting of west Belfast hunger striker Kieran Doherty, who was elected to the Dáil for Cavan-Monaghan before his death in 1981, ready to hang in its place.

Doherty is the shortest-serving Dáil deputy ever, having been a TD for just two months.

It is understood that members of his family will attend the unveiling of the portrait this week.