Sinn Fein calls for new statue at Belfast City Hall celebrating life of an Irish republican hero

Aug 22, 2017, 08:47 AM

Winifred Carney? Does the name mean anything to you? Try this one: Mary Ann McCracken. Those are two historical figures - both republicans - who Sinn Fein thinks should be celebrated with new statues at Belfast City Hall. Or perhaps you'd rather see City Council money spent on a memorial to the Belfast Blitz, when German air raids killed over a thousand people in 1941? The United States is embroiled in a huge public debate over monuments dedicated to leading figures from the Confederacy, a regime which enslaved African-Americans. Some statues have already been torn down - is it time for some of our monuments to be mothballed, in the name of community relations? UUP councillor Jeff Dudgeon, who's campaigning for a Blitz Memorial, Sinn Fein councillor Deirdre Hargey, who's backing a statue to Winifred Carney and the Alliance Party's deputy leader on Belfast City Council, Sian O'Neill joined Stephen to discuss.