Ceremonial maces and political portraits out of storage for Stormont display

A haul of ceremonial maces and portraits of key figures have been brought out of storage in Stormont for permanent display.

They include a portrait of Northern Ireland’s first prime minister James Craig and former taoiseach Eamon De Valera, who was elected to the Stormont House of Commons representing Down and later South Down.

There are also portraits of the first female cabinet minister, Dehra Chichester, ceremonial maces from the original Northern Ireland Parliament in 1921-72 and the Indenture for the Stormont Estate.

Parliament Buildings – a Journey of People, Politics and Peacebuilding was officially launched on Wednesday evening following a review of artefacts by the Assembly Commission.

Speaker Alex Maskey described the exhibition as an “important addition to Parliament Buildings”.

“Since the creation of the Assembly in 1998, there has been much discussion and debate about the items that are, or should be, displayed in Parliament Buildings,” he said.

“I am pleased that we will now have a permanent collection of images and items on display that will depict key political figures and events from over the years.

TUV leader Jim Allister, who has previously called for the display of items from storage, welcomed the display, but questioned the selection and placement of some items.

“At long last the beautiful portraits of former prime ministers are now, finally, back out on show in the building,” he said.

“Now that they are in their rightful place I have no doubt that many will question why they were ever concealed for so long.

“The greatest mistake, in my mind, is putting photographs which feature Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams opposite the memorial to Edgar Graham. Doing so insults the memory of an innocent victim of the IRA campaign.

“While there have been questionable additions, an important omission is a portrait of Her Majesty the Queen. One is owned by Stormont and 2022, being her Platinum Jubilee year, would have been the ideal time to have it back out on show where it belongs.”

Parliament Buildings will be open for public tours and viewing the display from March 28.