DERRY DISPUTE:A DISPUTE has broken out in Derry over the use of one of the city's famous landmarks for electioneering.
Supporters of People Before Profit candidate Eamonn McCann erected election posters at the Free Derry wall in the Bogside area of the city.
Sinn Féin claims the posters were put up illegally because it says members of its party had re-booked the wall for their election posters.
Talks aimed at resolving the dispute failed yesterday.
Mr McCann said he was unaware a formal booking procedure existed and said his election workers put up his posters following an agreement with a local committee responsible for approving usage of the wall.
“The wall is a community facility. It is not Sinn Féin’s wall. It is not their area. They have claimed more public space than any other party and now they want to claim this wall as their own as well,” Mr McCann said.
However Sinn Féin’s director of elections in the Foyle constituency Andrew McCartney said his party had already pre-booked the wall.
“We made the booking well in advance with the committee in adherence to the standard protocol,” he said.
Committee member Tony Doherty, who is a member of Sinn Féin, said he had brokered talks between the parties in an effort to resolve the dispute. “There is a long-standing protocol and I hope everyone adheres to it,” he said.
