TD joins North campaigner on election trail

AN outspoken opponent of paramilitary street violence took his Westminster election message to the heart of loyalist Belfast yesterday — flanked by a Dáil deputy.

Liam Kennedy, an independent candidate standing against Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams in the British general election is locked in a censorship row over gruesome campaign posters. But even though an advertising company refused to display billboard images portraying a so-called punishment beating, the economic history professor laid out his depiction of savagery at the gates of City Hall in Belfast.

Declaring that the public should have the right to decide on its content, Mr Kennedy then headed for the fiercely Protestant Shankill Road.

By his side was Fiona O’Malley, a Progressive Democrat TD.

As sinister Ulster Defence Association and Ulster Volunteer Force murals towered over them, the unlikely pair handed out leaflets telling paramilitaries it was time to go. Ms O’Malley said she was prepared for any hostilities.

“I’m used to abuse, in the South any politician gets abuse,” she said.

“It will be interesting to see what reception I get.”

As it turned out, there was no vitriol.

One Scotsman, who left his Stirling home three years ago in search of work, was the only one to register any puzzlement about the TD’s presence on a street that prides itself on all things British.

“I dinnae really vote here hen, but you’re not from the North either,” he said.

Possible converts to Mr Kennedy’s Human Rights campaign for the West Belfast seat were thin on the ground on a bright Bank Holiday.

But as the candidate tried to convince any shoppers prepared to listen to his message, Ms O’Malley discussed punishment attacks with Ryan Hall, a 24-year-old waiting for a bus home.

She appeared shocked as the 24-year-old casually told her: “None of my close friends have been (shot), but people I went to school with have been knee-capped or shot in the thigh for whatever reasons, mainly for hooding about.”

His experiences brought to life the mock beating portrayed in the poster Mr Kennedy had been stopped from erecting.

An advertising company decided not to carry them because the images were inappropriate and could cause offence. But Mr Kennedy claimed the firm had censored him amid concerns their sites could be attacked.

“It shows how insidious fear is,” he said. “But by putting it here (City Hall) I’m letting the Belfast public decide if it’s offensive.”