A banner removed by police from a children's play area in Moygashel, County Tyrone, as part of a hate-related investigation was replaced with an identical one within 24 hours.

The original display was taken down on Friday after the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) initiated a criminal investigation. By Saturday morning, the banner had been reattached to fencing at the same location. A PSNI spokesperson confirmed officers are aware of the reappearance and that enquiries continue.

At Stormont on Monday, Sinn Féin MLA Colm Gildernew urged political and community leaders to forcefully condemn the re-erection of what he described as a racist banner intended to create division. He also raised the reported presence of masked men at the park, calling it a sinister development that must be fully investigated.

During the debate, Sinead Ennis, Sinn Féin MLA for South Down, pressed Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly to explain her party's stance on the PSNI's decision to remove the banner and to condemn its reinstallation. Ms Little-Pengelly did not address the specific incident but stated her unequivocal opposition to thuggery, intimidation, sectarianism, and racism.

Mr Gildernew linked the Moygashel incident to a wider pattern of hate-motivated events, citing an arson attack at a building in the Shankill area of Belfast at the weekend. He described the targeting of a property based on the owner's identity as deplorable.

The Moygashel Cultural Association defended the banner in a letter to PSNI Deputy Chief Constable Bobby Singleton. The group said the display was a protest arising from broad community anxiety about a group that it described as being from the Islamic tradition using the public space, allegedly with items that could be considered offensive weapons. The association stated the removal of what it called a child safety banner was an unjustified provocation.

In its correspondence, the association questioned the timeline and reasoning behind the police decision to treat the banner initially as a hate incident and later as a criminal matter. It asked for details of any alleged offence and sought clarity on the standards used when removing material deemed offensive by some, warning that a lack of transparent explanation could fuel perceptions of inconsistent policing.