New £46k sculpture replaces union flag in County Derry town centre

A new £46,000 piece of public art now takes pride of place in Magherafelt town centre, marking the completion of the £1.9 million public realm scheme.

‘Our Story’ sculpture, created by artist Maurice Harron, was finally put in place on a roundabout within the Diamond area of the town on Friday afternoon.

The sculpture, which was designed by 200 people including school children and community groups, replaces a union flag and flag pole which have flown in the town for over 60 years.

There has been controversy in recent months over Mid Ulster Council’s decision to remove the Union flag and flag pole, which were not part of the public realm scheme.

Since its removal, local lobby group, The British Truth Forum have called for the flag to be re-instated.

The group believe that permission for the Union flag and flag pole is not required as the council do not hold full ownership on the land.

Last night, the group contacted the County Derry Post claiming that Mid Ulster Council’s planning application for the sculpture had not been ‘completed properly’.

The group have now warned that they will now be appealing the planning application.

William Lennox from the group stated: “We find it astounding that the council has failed to properly complete the planning application for the sculpture. As well as leaving essential sections of the form blank, they have also filled in other sections incorrectly. For example they have stated that Transport NI are the owners of this land, which is not the case.

“Having looked at the revised plans, we have also noticed that the artwork has been made larger than the original plans, which we objected to,” he said.

Mr Lennox added: “We believe that the application has been rushed through so that the sculpture would be in place in time for Friday evening’s band parade.  The council is trying hard to ethnical cleanse everything British out of this area.”

Concluding he said: “We also have a number of concerns involving the safety of the sculpture.  The sculpture is out of scale with anything else in the town and we feel it will impact on road safety.  It will block important views for both pedestrians and motorists.  While we want to see the flag put back up, safety to the local community is paramount. We will be appealing this application.”

However the Mid Ulster District Council has rejected the British Truth Forum’s claims stating that the ‘normal processes had been followed,’ which include a report from Transport NI approving the structure.

 A spokesperson for Mid Ulster District Council said: “Any member of the public can view the planning process in action by following the progress of a planning application online. Planning permission for the sculpture was sought in the normal manner and granted after normal processes had been followed.

“With regard to the timing of the sculpture’s installation, the Council has clearly stated on numerous occasions that it would be put in place once preparatory works had been completed, anticipated to be in early June.”