​A man has 'attended voluntarily' for police interview over Belfast City Hall vandalised portrait incident

​The incident – which is being treated as a hate crime – involved a portrait of the former DUP Lord Mayor of Belfast Lord Wallace Browne.

It happened during an Irish language charity event in City Hall, organised by west Belfast Irish language group Glor Na Mona.

The group denied any knowledge of the vandalism at the time, and has condemned it.

First Minister Michelle O’Neill told the Assembly in October that a Sinn Fein employee, who worked in the Assembly, had “made the party chief whip aware of their involvement”.

It was later reported in the Irish News that person is the son of a Sinn Fein MLA. The damaged artwork was created by the painter Israel Zohar, who has been described as a “renowned Jewish artist”.

Michelle O'Neill’s statement on the issue came amid a string of political scandals to hit Sinn Fein, and was yet another embarrassing issue the First Minister had to address in the Assembly.

She had told MLAs that “a Sinn Fein employee who worked in the Assembly made the party chief whip aware of their involvement in an incident regarding a portrait in Belfast City Hall.

“This took place on Saturday October 19. The employee was immediately suspended and we notified the PSNI.

“The employee has now resigned from their employment and their party membership”.

A police spokesperson told the News Letter that “one man attended voluntarily for interview in relation to this incident” on Tuesday 19th November.

They added: “Our enquiries are continuing and we continue to engage with Belfast City Council. Police would encourage anyone with any information to contact police on 101 and quote reference number 1194 21/10/24”. The force says they are continuing to investigate the “criminal damage”.

The length of time it took to interview anyone in relation to the case had caused some concern in the DUP.