Debate contribution: Sinn Féin Billboards: Illegal Erection

Debate contribution by Ms Liz Kimmins on 20 January 2026.

MLA

Ms Liz Kimmins

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

20 January 2026

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Sinn Féin Billboards: Illegal Erection

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5348862

Read the official Assembly record

Text

The bottom line is that the motion was tabled on the basis of what Members believed. Clearly, they had not done their homework and have not been in the area. I live in the area, I represent it and I know that there is no Sinn Féin billboard there. It has been interesting to listen to the commentary, because it is based on something that is in the past. As the Member who spoke before me said, article 87 of the Roads Order 1993 gives the Department the discretionary power to seek to have an advertisement removed or to remove it, if considered necessary. As Members have acknowledged, the display of advertisements is typically subject to an advertising consent application process, and any breaches of planning regulations are generally addressed under planning legislation. Due to staff resourcing pressures across the transport and road asset management group, particularly in operational areas, priority is always given to managing public safety risks on the road network. As such, my officials will prioritise signs or attachments that are likely to present a safety issue to road users. Members will be aware of the issues with staffing levels across our operational workforce and the impact that they are having on maintenance more broadly. That is an extremely important point in the discussion. Earlier, my colleague from South Down made a point about comments that Phillip Brett made just last week. Yesterday, I stood in the Chamber and was subjected to scrutiny about where I direct my resources in relation to issues that are of significance to our constituents: roads maintenance, waste water infrastructure, public transport and active travel.

Are Members now seriously asking me to redirect my limited staffing resources from filling potholes to looking at all the posters that are erected throughout the North? Are they asking that I look not just at Sinn Féin posters? I say that because it is clear that the debate is about just Sinn Féin. Are Members seriously asking me to redirect staff to doing that, thus taking them away from dealing with the issues that are supposedly of importance to all Members?

I will return to the issue of the billboard, which is not a Sinn Féin billboard.

It is mounted —

Members may think the contrary, but there is no Sinn Féin billboard.

I will not be drawn into the pantomime that I have witnessed today.

Some of the posts appear —

Some of the posts appear to be situated on the Department's land, while others are on privately owned land. Part of the billboard is located on land that is not part of the public road network, so the Department does not have statutory powers under the Roads Order 1993 to remove the billboard. The billboard is considered to pose a low risk to road safety for the following reasons: it is set back from the carriageway, at the top of an embankment, meaning that there is little, if any, risk of impact from an errant vehicle or of the billboard causing an impediment to vehicles and/or pedestrians; it does not cause any obstruction to traffic or to sight lines; and it is located in an area where the speed limit is 30 mph, so vehicle speeds are low, meaning that the risk of serious injury is greatly reduced. We have had a very broad discussion on the issue, but it has also been a very narrow discussion. I welcome the comments from Alliance Members, who rightly pointed out that the issue applies to all political parties, as well as to hate messaging and anti-immigration messaging, which are toxic for our communities. My officials are working closely with the PSNI to ensure that messaging, advertising, billboards and posters about such matters are removed promptly from any departmental equipment, because such material should not be tolerated by any of us. I hope that we can get back to dealing with real issues and to delivering for people, as we have been elected to do.

668 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:15 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

Disagree with this assessment?

Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.

Challenge this classification