Police probe Belfast graffiti containing addresses of Varadkar and Coveney

Graffiti with the name of Tanaiste Leo Varadkar and an address on the wall on Belvoir Street off the lower Newtownards Road in east Belfast. Picture: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

The PSNI is investigating graffiti in Belfast that contains the names and addresses of Tánaiste Leo Varadkar and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney.

The graffiti was spotted today in the east of the city and has the home addresses of both Mr Varadkar and Mr Coveney.

A PSNI spokesperson told the Irish Examiner: "Police are aware of graffiti at the junction of Newtownards Rd and Belvoir St and at commercial premises at the Newtownards Rd in east Belfast. Relevant partner agencies have been informed and enquiries are ongoing."

A spokesperson for Mr Coveney said that they could not comment on security matters while a spokesperson for Mr Varakdar did not respond to a request for comment.

The PSNI have said they are aware of the graffiti. Picture: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

Condemned

Graffiti that threatened Mr Varadkar was previously condemned after it appeared in January.

The message scrawled on a wall in the Belvoir area of south Belfast was promptly painted over.

At the time, South Belfast MP Claire Hanna said she had been contacted by residents who were “nauseated” by it.

Within days, Brexit checks at two ports in the North were suspended after the appearance of graffiti which the Taoiseach called "sinister and ugly".

Checks on food and animal products at Larne and Belfast were suspended temporarily amid the appearance of threatening graffiti around the ports and across the region.

The threats are linked to the Northern Irish Protocol, with many unionist and loyalist groups opposed to the Irish Sea border.