A Belfast City Council vote on an unauthorised statue of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands prompted SDLP councillor Paul Doherty to resign from the party. The statue stands in the Republican Memorial Garden in Twinbrook, west Belfast. Sands died in 1981 at age 27. The council unveiled it last year for the 44th anniversary of his death without planning permission.

At Thursday's meeting, a DUP motion to reconsider the statue passed with unionist and Alliance Party support. A Sinn Fein amendment for a review of enforcement on all similar structures failed. SDLP councillors abstained.

Doherty, west Belfast councillor and former deputy lord mayor, stated the statue holds real significance.

SDLP leader Claire Hanna called the meeting a distraction from housing, health and education issues. She described the DUP-Sinn Fein exchange as a sham fight. Hanna noted her party's abstention aligned with the Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition. She reported social media abuse against SDLP councillors, including terms like scum and West Brit.

Hanna expressed regret over Doherty's resignation and called him a valued colleague. She defended the party's position on a rules-based system and fairness in remembrance.