Belfast deputy lord mayor Paul Doherty has quit the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) following a council dispute over a statue of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands.

Doherty, a west Belfast councillor, announced his departure two days after a special Belfast City Council meeting last month. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) tabled a motion to reconsider closing a planning enforcement probe into the statue, erected without permission on public land in the Twinbrook area last year.

Council officials had determined no further action was needed. The DUP motion passed with 27 votes in favour, 22 against and three abstentions. SDLP councillors walked out before the vote, but Doherty stated he would have opposed it.

Doherty described his exit as a matter of principle, not a minor internal issue after nine years in the party. He expressed a strong separation from the SDLP position and noted the statue's significance to many in west Belfast, where he lives and works.

An SDLP spokesperson said Doherty took part in prior discussions on the party's stance and raised no concerns. Doherty will serve as an independent councillor.