The National President of the Ancient Order of Hibernians has criticised a mural unveiled this week in the London Road and My Lady's Road area of East Belfast. The artwork depicts a loyalist band marching past the Ormeau Road site of the 1992 Sean Graham bookmakers massacre, where five Catholics were killed by the UDA.

Sean Pender made the comments after meeting relatives of the victims in South Belfast. He described the mural as promoting hate rather than culture. Pender stated that true culture remains inclusive without boundaries.

The families of the five victims issued a statement calling for immediate removal of the mural. They distinguished cultural expression from sectarianism that promotes past atrocities and causes re-traumatisation. The families instructed solicitor Niall Murphy to contact authorities including the Northern Ireland Housing Executive for explanations on its funding and role.

South Belfast MLA Deirdre Hargey contacted the victims' families to offer support. Hargey also engaged the Housing Executive to question approval of the mural. She described it as a provocation intended to re-traumatise those affected by the 1992 attack.

The mural received funding from the Housing Executive under its re-imaging project to replace paramilitary murals on its properties. The Housing Executive has requested that the mural be taken down.