THE forum which is helping to organise £3 million plans to commemorate Northern Ireland's centenary has not yet met to discuss the controversy over the use of Seamus Heaney's portrait.
Director of Seamus Heaney Centre denies giving permission for use of poet s image in NI centenary branding The image of Seamus Heaney used in the Our Story in the Making: NI Beyond 100 campaign.
Author Glenn Patterson is director of the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen s University Belfast
THE director of the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen s University has said it did not give permission for an image of the poet in to be used in a campaign to mark the centenary of Northern Ireland.
The inclusion of a colour portrait of the Nobel laureate in the Our Story in the Making: NI Beyond 100 initiative caused controversy when it was unveiled by Secretary of State Brandon Lewis earlier this month.
Seamus Heaney portrait artist responds to NI centenary controversy
The artist questioned whether UK government plans to mark 100 years of Northern Ireland will be inclusive
The portrait of Seamus Heaney featured on the new website for events marking Northern Ireland s centenary
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NIO refuses to say if it consulted Seamus Heaney s family over NI centenary branding The image used for the Our Story in the Making: NI Beyond 100 comes from Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen s University Belfast, which holds the rights to the portrait.
DUP MP Gavin Robinson. Picture by Liam McBurney/PA Wire
THE Northern Ireland Office (NIO) has refused to say if it consulted with the family of Seamus Heaney about the use of his image in a £3 million plan to commemorate Northern Ireland s centenary.
It came as the BBC yesterday reported that the NIO had confirmed the Heaney family were not spoken to about his portrait being used in the branding.
Use of Seamus Heaney image in NI centenary branding an attempt to be inclusive says UUP MLA The image used for the Our Story in the Making: NI Beyond 100 comes from Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen s University Belfast, who hold rights to the portrait
Ulster Unionist MLA Doug Beattie. Picture by Mal McCann
AN Ulster Unionist MLA last night described the use of an image of poet Seamus Heaney in the branding for a £3 million plan to commemorate Northern Ireland s centenary is an attempt to be inclusive despite criticism from nationalists.
Doug Beattie said he believed the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) is seeking to involve those not from a Unionist background by choosing to include the portrait of the late Co Derry-born Nobel laureate.