Debate contribution: Sinn Féin Billboards: Illegal Erection
Debate contribution by Mr Cathal Boylan on .
- MLA
- Mr Cathal Boylan
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 20 January 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Sinn Féin Billboards: Illegal Erection
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5348700
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I welcome the Member to the Chamber, and I look forward to working with him. In the midst of all the important and pressing issues that face us as a society locally, nationally and internationally, we are spending time in the Assembly debating a motion about a billboard: frankly, it is bizarre. Of course, everyone should follow proper planning procedures, but the time that has been spent on discussion and faux outrage at the Infrastructure Committee is nothing short of ridiculous, and we will probably see more of it today. If the Members who tabled the motion are serious about illegal displays, let us have a conversation about such displays, particularly the annual, toxic, hate-filled and illegal bonfires that blight our communities.
Of course, the motion is not about that.
It is all about party politicking and petty point-scoring, rather than any genuine attempt to discuss the real, serious issues. The public will see the motion for what it is: the singular obsession of the SDLP Member for Newry and Armagh, who is being egged on enthusiastically by unionist representatives. Perhaps the real focus on the billboard is on the message, "A United Ireland is for everyone", and I think that —
— that key message is what is bugging most of the people in the Chamber. Hopefully, after today, the hot air will dissipate, and we can get back to focusing on the real issues that impact on ordinary workers and families in their day-to-day lives. Sinn Féin will, of course, oppose the motion.
255 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Awaiting analysis
This record has not been analysed yet. It is not counted in any total until it has been assessed.
Disagree with this assessment?
Classifications can be challenged. A person reviews every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.