Chris Lyttle MLA said: “In recent years there has been some very successful projects to re-image some of the paramilitary murals across Belfast, which Alliance has supported. I backed and spoke at the launch event of a re-imaged mural at Templemore Street which now positively depicts boxing heritage in our community. I believe these four UDA murals should also have been re-imaged.
“Paramilitary murals glorify terrorism, promote fear and impede development. It is time that we move away from such images and instead celebrate the positive aspects of Northern Ireland such as our sporting, cultural and industrial heritage. We should not have images on our streets of masked gunmen.
“There should not be any acceptance of paramilitaries in our community. These murals represent terrorist organisations that have murdered and injured many people from all backgrounds and it is not acceptable to claim that these paramilitary murals have any benefit to our society such as tourist or otherwise.
ENDS