A billboard on Camlough Road outside Newry, which sparked a political dispute at Stormont, has been removed. The Department for Infrastructure confirmed the hoarding was unauthorised and located near the A1 Newry bypass. The department stated it played no role in the removal.

The structure previously carried Sinn Féin branding and slogans. In recent months it showed a Christmas message about Palestinian children. Weeks ago graffiti appeared on it supporting Niall Sheerin, jailed in 2022 for possessing a gun linked to the 2019 killing of journalist Lyra McKee.

Sheerin, from Tyrconnell Street in Londonderry, admitted possession of the weapon between September 2018 and June 2020. A Belfast Crown Court judge sentenced him at age 29, noting his association with a terrorist gang but stating the prosecution could not prove he knew the gun's history.

Lyra McKee, aged 29, died from a gunshot wound while observing rioting in the Creggan area of Derry on 18 April 2019. The New IRA claimed responsibility.

Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins, a Sinn Féin assembly member for the Newry area, resisted earlier assembly calls to remove the billboard. She assessed it as a low risk to road users with no obstruction to traffic sight lines. Kimmins described the graffiti as horrendous and said the billboard sat on both department and private land.

A cross-party infrastructure committee discussed the graffiti last Wednesday. Democratic Unionist Party member Peter Martin, the committee chair, called it appalling and urged ministerial action. The committee wrote to Kimmins requesting department officials remove it.

Department officials contacted Sinn Féin in 2023 and November last year to request removal. The Police Service of Northern Ireland confirmed it had no involvement.