Debate contribution: Sinn Féin Billboards: Illegal Erection

Debate contribution by Mr Gareth Wilson on 20 January 2026.

MLA: Mr Gareth Wilson
Party at the time: Democratic Unionist Party
Date: 20 January 2026
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Private Members' Business
Heading: Sinn Féin Billboards: Illegal Erection
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5348683

Text

I beg to move
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I welcome the opportunity to propose the motion. Before I address the motion, I thank Members sincerely for their warm and kind words as I took my seat in the Chamber last week; it was much appreciated. Indeed, many people took the time to greet me in the corridors of the Building. I thank Members from across the House for their warmth and kindness. This is my first opportunity in the Chamber to put on record my gratitude for and appreciation of William Irwin, who recently stepped down from his role as the DUP's Newry and Armagh Assemblyman. It was a role that he exercised with considerable success, sincerity and devotion for almost 19 years. It was an absolute pleasure to serve as his assistant for the entirety of his tenure as a Member of the House. He was a very enthusiastic advocate for all the people of the constituency. The warm words that were expressed by Members of the House, many of which I listened to, during his last week in office, were especially kind. I pass on his thanks again to Members for their sentiments. The old adage that all political careers end in failure is certainly not applicable to William. I wish him well in his well-deserved retirement, although he would want me to add that he is certainly not one for sitting down. From my personal perspective, as I take up my role as an Assembly Member for Newry and Armagh, I want, first and foremost, to thank God for the health and strength to pursue the role. I thank my wife, my family, my friends and my former Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon (ABC) Borough Council colleagues for their support. I also thank the DUP MLA team for their significant warmth and kindness as I have undertaken this journey. Having served for over 20 years in local government, formerly as part of the then Armagh City and District Council, and latterly in Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, including a very enjoyable term as lord mayor, I have a strong enthusiasm and determination to deliver change and, crucially, deliver assistance to the people of Newry and Armagh. Indeed, I want to elevate that level of intervention and interaction for the benefit of the people through my new public representational role in the Northern Ireland Assembly. I put on record my thanks to the public who have reached out with the warmest of messages to me. It really is appreciated, and I read and listened to every one. I am a straight-talking unionist, and I will be an advocate for the Union. Through my work in the House and in the constituency, I will promote the benefits of the Union and reflect the views of the unionist electorate in the constituency. I will also commit to putting my shoulder to the wheel with my fellow unionists in addressing the overbearing and undemocratic protocol, which continues to cause great concern amongst our industries and our communities. However, I want to say that my unionism is forward-looking. My unionism will not prevent me from reaching out across the divides and ensuring that everyone in the constituency, regardless of their political, religious or cultural backgrounds, will be able to contact me and seek assistance, as, indeed, they do currently and have done throughout my years as a public representative. There is much work to do in my constituency, and I will continue to be an advocate for our elderly and for those in the constituency who are vulnerable. I will continue to be accessible and visible as I pursue improvements for everyone in Newry and Armagh. The issues that require attention in the constituency remain the importance of securing movement on the progression of the much-needed link roads in Armagh to reduce congestion and improve air quality in the city; and the importance of investing in and the protection of our health and social care system in the constituency at all our busy NHS sites, including at Daisy Hill Hospital. There is, of course, a renewed importance attached to road safety, given recent fatalities and very serious accidents on the A27, the A28 and the A3 main routes in the Newry and Armagh constituency. Our hard-pressed businesses also require to be listened to on the cost of doing business, their rates, their town centres and their services. I was appointed to the Committee for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs last week, and I truly look forward to that role. I very much enjoyed my first meeting of the Committee last Thursday, along with my party colleagues Michelle and Tom and, indeed, fellow MLAs from across the parties. Our rural communities and our farmers in Newry and Armagh will have a voice. That was the case under William Irwin's tenure, and it will be the case under mine. Mr Speaker, acknowledging your leniency and not intending to stretch it any further, I now turn to the motion before the House. The sentiment of the motion is one of accountability and respect for the rule of law, which the Minister herself must surely be bound by. As someone who spent 10 years on ABC Borough Council's planning committee, serving twice as chairman, I know that the issue of advertising hoardings was a regular theme in applications. Applications that came before the planning committee received significant scrutiny. Indeed, the Minister's Department is a consultee for every planning application that comes across the local council's threshold. Therefore, if the Camlough Road billboard that has borne Sinn Féin's political messaging had been subject to due process, the Minister's Department would, undoubtedly, have responded with a negative consultation response. What is more concerning from a planning perspective is the fact that the Egyptian Arch is a B+ listed structure, as confirmed to me this morning by historic environment division. That listing, in itself, should create significant restrictions for developments close by — if, of course, due process is followed; it clearly has been followed not in this instance. I recall a number of applications at ABC Borough Council's planning committee in which planning permission was being sought close to listed structures and the consultee response from historic environment division clearly pointed to a detrimental impact on the structure, with the planners recommending refusal of the applications. Those applicants had to abide by the law. Minister, by your lack of action, you are saying that it is one rule for Sinn Féin and another rule for Newry businesses. The public are not fools. They can see a blatant disregard for policy and for the rule of law. The fact that it is visible in a Minister with responsibility for planning and, indeed, our road verges is a significant concern. I know that our councils regularly pursue those who fly-post and that, from a planning enforcement perspective, they routinely issue notices for immediate rectification of breaches. What is the response in this instance? That is the question, Members, that needs to be answered. I have had sight of a letter that the Minister sent to the Committee for Infrastructure, and it raises many more questions than it answers. My colleagues will touch on the content of that letter, however it seems strange that the Minister appears to make up policy on the hoof. Indeed, it appears that the only concern seems to be with whether the installation is a safety hazard. That is not policy in action; that is blatant disregard for policy and an apparent abdication of responsibility. The Minister went on to state that, on two occasions, her Department has issued requests for the installation to be removed, but she does not say who those communications were sent to. Clarity is needed on whether the Minister's Department has been writing back to the Minister herself. Sinn Féin may be used to talking to spooks, but ghostwriting to itself hardly amounts to accountability on this matter. The Minister's position is especially concerning, given that that illegal sign remains in place in Newry. It is a point worth noting that a very important, large traffic-direction DFI road sign, providing key information on the location of Craigavon Area Hospital's A&E, remains unreadable, lying on its face in the verge on Northway, Portadown. I imagine that the Minister passes that sign daily. I raised that issue with her Department's representatives when DFI presented its annual report to ABC Borough Council only a matter of weeks ago. I was present at that meeting, and, despite an assurance from a senior official that the matter would resolved, many weeks later, the sign remained face down this morning and not fit for purpose.
The Minister's party political and illegal signage is clearly more important than her departmental responsibilities to ensure that a sign that shows where an emergency department is located is visible for someone who might be unfamiliar with the territory and find themselves in an emergency.
The motion draws a comparison between this instance and how statutory agencies treat businesses or individuals who erect unauthorised advertising. They would be pursued relentlessly, yet here we have a most unacceptable instance, where a Sinn Féin Minister disregards the rule of law. I believe that, in doing so, she breaches the ministerial code. I urge her to immediately instruct her Department to remove the displays without further delay and restore some public trust in the strict systems that should govern the location of advertising materials, as they do in all other circumstances. Sinn Féin is not above the law.
I commend the motion.

1,599 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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