Pro-IRA graffiti blasted

Pro-IRA graffiti blasted

29 September 2021

A LOCAL politician has branded those responsible for daubing pro-IRA graffiti on a bridge bear Dundrum as “idiotic”.

Slieve Croob councillor Alan Lewis believes the culprits have demonstrated what he described as an “unfortunate increase in bigotry” and said it is beyond him why “someone would be so stupid”.

The graffiti was daubed on a section of the Moneycarragh bridge — also known locally as Bennett’s bridge — with Cllr Lewis saying what happened was “idiotic and void of reason” and that defacing the historic bridge demonstrated “overt sectarianism”. 

Cllr Lewis said while police may not be able to identify those responsible, he was told that neighbours can.

“The aspiring republican artists should be thoroughly embarrassed by their actions and I only hope that their parents are reading this article,” he declared.

“This part of rural South Down suffered heavily as a direct result of IRA terrorism. Those with a spray can in one hand and a smartphone which accesses the internet in the other may have learnt or been fed a misguided, romanticised version of the troubles.

“I can assure them that their neighbours, the community which lives around them and which suffered day and daily do not need reminded of ‘Provo brutality’ nor do they expect to see such obvious triumphalism”.

Cllr Lewis believes that the paint daubed on the bridge is strikingly similar to that which was used to paint over a dual language sign at the Wateresk Road outside Dundrum.

“This suggests to me that those involved may have been trying to create the illusion that the Irish language sign was attacked by unionist neighbours to create tension and sow division,” he declared. “This type of behaviour is not welcome, it is not wanted and needs to stop”.

Cllr Lewis said he was unable to remove the graffiti from the bridge and has asked the Department for Infrastructure to do it.