SINISTER posters of Leo Varadkar that have appeared in loyalist areas across the north over recent days are "designed to incite violence and threaten", it has been claimed.
The posters of the newly-appointed taoiseach warning that 'the possibility of a return to violence is very real' appear against the background of an image of the Dublin/Monaghan bombs.
The 1974 attacks were carried out by the UVF and claimed the lives of 33 people and injured more than 300.
Hundreds of the posters, which coincide with the weekend handover of the taoiseach's role from Fianna Fáil to Fine Gael, have appeared in loyalist areas.
Unionist leaders have continually criticised the Fine Gael leader since 2018 when during the Brexit negotiations between the UK and EU he used historical newspaper articles about bombed customs posts to emphasise the importance of the border issue.
Last year, the then taoiseach Micheál Martin told The Irish News that the claim by unionists that Mr Varadkar had been raising the threat of violence had been "overplayed".
SDLP councillor Carl Whyte condemned the posters, which had appeared along Belfast’s Shore Road.
“These posters are a vile attempt to incite people to violence using the most appalling imagery of a horrific attack on Talbot Street in Dublin which killed 14 people – it has no place in any community in north Belfast and those responsible have nothing to offer," he said.
“I understand the concerns that people have about the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement and the Northern Ireland Protocol but we all need to be clear - there is no cause that is worth the horrific price that these images invoke."
Mr Whyte said he contacted the PSNI, as well as Translink and Belfast City Council with a view to having the posters removed.
Meanwhile, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has suggested the new taoiseach "take a leaf from Micheál Martin’s book".
The Lagan Valley MP said that during his tenure as taoiseach, the Fianna Fáil leader "sought to understand why unionism was wholly opposed to the Northern Ireland Protocol".
He urged Mr Varadkar to follow his predecessor's "example in managing north-south relationships".
"Whilst many unionists will struggle to forget the new taoiseach waving news reports from the 1970s of a bombed border customs post which gave the threat of violence a seat at the EU negotiating table and demoted the power of democracy and politics, we are prepared to work with him if he is willing to address unionist concerns," Sir Jeffrey said.
Sir Jeffrey again reiterated his desire to see the protocol "replaced with arrangements that restore Northern Ireland’s place in the UK internal market".
