Ex-IRA prisoners are up in arms that a mural honouring republican women killed in the conflict was replaced by an ad promoting landlords.
The 'women in struggle' mural on the Falls Road commemorated famous IRA women including Mairead Farrell, killed by the SAS in Gibraltar and Maire Drumm, the Sinn Féin vice-president assassinated by loyalists in Belfast's Mater hospital.
But the detachable mural was recently removed by Sinn Féin. A mural depicting Uncle Sam saying 'Landlords We Need You' was then erected in its place by a local business.
It advertised the services of Northern Property, a wealthy Falls Road-based estate agency. Bizarrely, the new mural sat above one of republican socialist icon James Connolly, the 1916 leader renowned for his hatred of landlords.
Ex-IRA prisoner, Nuala Perry, who knew both Farrell and Drumm said: "I'm horrified that Mairead and Maire have been discarded for landlords. This shows what West Belfast has become – it's all about money and nothing about republicanism or socialism now. The last thing we need is more landlords."
So enraged were locals that Northern Property's ad was paint-bombed last weekend and has now been removed. "I'm not surprised that happened. People were very angry," said Perry who served five years in Armagh prison.
Padraic McCotter, a former blanketman who served 15 years in Long Kesh, said he was stunned that the women's mural had been cast aside for the landlords' ad. "When I first heard of it, I thought it was a joke.
"The irony must be lost on (those) who put this ad up given that it's placed above a painting of James Connolly." McCotter called for the republican women to be put back on the Rockmount Street wall.
Tony Donnelly, director of Northern Property, said his office had been inundated with calls about the mural's removal. He said it had been taken down by Sinn Féin and his company had then erected its ad separately.
"We now realise that wasn't a brilliant idea and the old mural will be reinstated in due course," he said. Ex-prisoners have complained about Sinn Féin's support for some property firms.
Donnelly confirmed that Northern Property advertised in the local Sinn Féin news-sheet and the company had attended a Sinn Féin fund-raising dinner in the Europa hotel.
