It then emerged that it had been erected without planning permission, although Belfast City Council had not previously taken any action.

Claire Hanna described a ‘sham fight’ between the DUP and Sinn Fein, and a ‘pile-on’ on members of her party.

Former SDLP councillor Paul Doherty said he knew the Bobby Sands statue in Twinbrook held ‘real significance’ for people.

The statue was erected on Sunday to mark the 44th anniversary of Bobby Sands’s death.

He died on May 5th during the 1981 hunger strike, when he was aged 27.