The dissident republican window mural depicts a snowman pulling the trigger on a bomb and the phrase ‘they didn’t go’ condemned by the DUP.
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A Christmas-themed window display depicting a snowman pulling the trigger on a bomb at the offices of dissident group Souradh has been condemned by the DUP.
A picture of him at Junior McDade House in Londonderry with the phrase “They’re not gone you know” – a reference to a well-known Provisional IRA phrase used in the past.
The display depicts a snowman dressed in traditional republican attire and Father Christmas is seen holding a walkie-talkie device.
The DUP’s Foyle MLA Gary Middleton said the display was “below an insult” and said he had asked the PSNI to investigate.
“It’s hard to find words to describe the display in the window of the Soradh office,” he said.
“To use Christmas as a propaganda tool for terrorism is insulting and an insult to the victims and the wider community.
“I have asked the police to investigate, but it must be removed immediately. Showing something that represents a detonator being pressed is sickening, in the face of current and past terrorism. A sight that has devastated our city and Northern Ireland as a whole.
“Clearly the entire community needs to condemn such portrayals.
“However, it also needs to be recognized that attempts to sanitize and justify terrorism in the past encourage those who engage in it today.
“The fact that dissidents are copying the same tactics and tactics of the Provisional IRA can be seen through the use of ‘they didn’t go you know’ across the window.”
This is not the first time the window has caused controversy, with similar outrage expressed in 2019 when a picture of Father Christmas was shown with an AK-47 rifle.
In 2018 the window showed the Grinch, dressed in PSNI uniform, with a Nazi symbol on his shoulder, using a battering ram to break into a house.
The PSNI has been contacted for comment.
It comes on the same day that a New IRA breakaway republican group claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on a police vehicle in Strabane, Co Tyrone.
Two officers were on patrol in Mount Carmel Heights last Thursday when a bomb exploded on the side of their vehicle.
No officers were injured in the attack, which prompted a major security alert in the area, affecting more than 1,000 residents and leaving some children unable to attend school on Friday.
