W Kerr
3.1K posts









I have left the SDLP with immediate effect. My focus will remain on the ground in my community, representing the people of West Belfast. For clarity, I was not at the hastily arranged Belfast City Council meeting this week - contrary to some posts directed at me. I was dealing with an emerging issue in the community and therefore did not have the opportunity to vote against the DUP motion - which I would have done. Anyone suggesting otherwise is simply trying to score cheap political points. As someone from West Belfast, I know the Bobby Sands statue in Twinbrook holds real significance for people in our community and beyond. People should be entitled to remember him in this way, and I fully support that. Shame on the DUP and others for turning this into a political stunt. My focus remains, as always - on the people of my community. If anyone would like to engage further on this directly, you know where I am.








DUP Statement This evening, Belfast City Council passed a DUP motion, condemning the unauthorised erection of the Bobby Sands statue on public land and calling for full transparency and a review of the decision not to take enforcement action. We all must be equal under the law and equally subject to the law. Sinn Fein representatives, alongside First Minister Michelle O’Neill, unveiled the memorial to Hunger Striker Bobby Sands, despite it being erected without planning permission, and this evening argued against enforcement action being taken. The motion was about a memorial and whether planning law is applied equally and without exception. It can’t be one rule for republicans and another rule for small business owners. Attempts to deflect and shut down debate were made tonight but they failed, Council has now set a clear expectation for transparency and accountability.




A DUP councillor has been suspended for three months by a standards watchdog over comments linking the LGBT community with support for Hamas. bbc.in/4u87xhK




The Bobby Sands statue, like the illegally erected Larne Crown statue, isn’t going anywhere. The most telling part of this saga is how it illustrates- yet again- that SF are failing to pro-actively counter the DUP/TUV agenda in spite of having ample opportunities to do so.











