Northern Ireland

Group defends IRA memorial on Housing Executive rented land

The new memorial at Ardoyne in north Belfast
The new memorial at Ardoyne in north Belfast The new memorial at Ardoyne in north Belfast

A COMMUNITY group in north Belfast has defended a memorial commemorating IRA members on land rented from the Housing Executive.

Joe Marley of the Ardoyne, Bone and Ligoniel Heritage Association (ABLHA) insisted they were "up front" with the housing body about their plans.

He said the Housing Executive should have had "enough sense" to know the memorial garden would include those involved in the IRA.

The Irish News revealed on Saturday that the body is receiving £200 annually from ABLHA for the strip of land used to build the republican memorial.

It bears the names of more than 130 people from the area killed during the Troubles including a central panel dedicated to IRA members.

TUV leader Jim Allister yesterday branded it an "outrageous abuse" of publicly-owned property and called on the Housing Executive to terminate the lease.

But Sinn Féin North Belfast MLA Gerry Kelly, an ABLHA committee member, said "people have a right to remember their loved ones".

The Housing Executive said the site was leased in 2014 for a "community garden", but with various covenants restricting its use.

A spokeswoman last night added: "The Housing Executive did not receive any details, nor were we provided with a design proposal for use of the community garden."

However, Mr Marley said the group told the body they wanted to develop a "garden of reflection to commemorate those in the recent conflict".

"I would imagine that the Housing Executive would have enough sense to know that some of those would be IRA volunteers," he said.

"The history of Ardoyne, Bone and Ligoniel is well documented – it just stands to reason.

"If you follow the logic some of those people would be IRA volunteers. The heritage association is not going to airbrush people out of our history."

A republican colour party led a street parade on Sunday last week at the unveiling of the memorial garden.

Shankill bomber Sean Kelly was among the hundreds who attended, while Sinn Féin's Mr Kelly was the main speaker.

The covenants say the heritage association is "not to carry on any development of the land".

Mr Marley defended the memorial, saying: "This is about commemorating and celebrating the lives of local people who died during the course of conflict."

But he added: "If the Housing Executive are investigating it we will comply with them and work with them."

He said ABLHA also intends to launch new community projects aimed at celebrating the area's heritage and history.

It's not the first time the Housing Executive (NIHE) has faced controversy over memorials on its land.

In 2014 a loyalist memorial in south Belfast sparked controversy after The Irish News revealed it was built with £11,000 of NIHE funds.

The monument near Annadale flats is now being used annually in a parade honouring UDA men Joe Bratty and Raymond Elder, who were linked to numerous Troubles murders.

Each year a temporary plaque bearing their names has been fixed to the memorial.

NIHE said the remembrance garden was intended as a First World War monument.