Workers at Belfast City Hall have begun installing statues of Mary Ann McCracken and Winifred Carney ahead of their unveiling on Friday to coincide with International Women’s Day.
The statues, created by artist Ralf Sander, are designed to recognise the two female activists’ historical contribution to the city.
Winifred Carney, who died in 1943, was a suffragist, trade unionist, and Irish republican, who was born in Bangor but raised on the Falls Road.
She was in charge of the women’s section of the Irish Workers Textile Union before becoming a friend and personal secretary to James Connolly.
Mary Ann McCracken was a Belfast-born businesswoman, social reformer, anti-slavery campaigner, and supporter of the United Irishmen who lived from 1770 to 1866 and was born into a liberal Presbyterian family of Scottish and French Huguenot heritage.
A founding member of the Belfast Harp Society, she was also the sister of Henry Joy McCracken, a founder of the United Irishmen, and took care of his daughter after his execution in 1798.
