Belfast City Council is set to erect a statue of republican and anti-slavery campaigner Mary Ann McCracken at City Hall.

On Friday, a proposal to erect a statue was agreed with cross party support at a meeting of the Council's Strategic Policy and Resources Committee.

Mary Ann McCracken (1770 - 1876) was a prominent abolitionist and humanitarian who campaigned at Belfast docks handing out anti-slavery leaflets to emigrants heading to America. 

A sister of executed United Irishmen leader, Henry Joy McCracken, she was also a radical political activist and social reformer who dedicated much of her time to helping the poor through the Belfast Charitable Society.

The proposal to erect a statue in her honour will now face an equality impact assessment before a final decision will be made at full Council.

Alliance Party Councillor Michael Long, who proposed the erection of the statue, said Mary Ann McCracken "is a perfect example of the need to showcase the diverse nature of Belfast and how not everyone can be placed into a simple descriptive box".

“She was a Presbyterian but also an Irish republican who loved traditional Irish music," he said. "A campaigner for women being able to vote, she also was a successful business person at a time when females often didn’t have those opportunities.

“Mary Ann also worked to improve Belfast, setting up a school for orphans, advocating for prison reform and perhaps most notably, actively campaigning to stop slavery and even refusing to eat sugar due to its connections to the slave trade.

“A statue for Mary Ann McCracken would only be the first step in reforming how we look at our past in terms of memorials at City Hall and making it inclusive for everyone. Alliance wants it to be part of a package of measures which would include a Carson commemorative tile, a panel honouring the bomb disposal squad, a stained glass window for health workers, and contributions celebrating the LGBT+ community and ethnic minorities.

“We are a city of wonderful stories and fantastic people, and it’s time our civic buildings reflected that.”

The Council will now begin the process of costing and designing the statue of Mary Ann McCracken, as well as a statue dedicated to republican revolutionary and trade unionist Winifred Carney. 

The latter statue was agreed by Belfast City Council in 2019.

Welcoming the move, Sinn Féin Councillor Ciarán Beattie said: “Belfast is a diverse city and it is crucial that steps like today are taken to make it inclusive and representative of all citizens of our city.
 
“An Equality Impact Assessment in 2012 clearly demonstrated that those depicted or commemorated in statues in the grounds of Belfast City Hall are predominantly from a white, male, unionist background.
 
“To address this imbalance Sinn Féin brought forward these proposals initially in 2017 and I welcome the support of other parties which have now moved to support proposals.
 
“Mary Ann McCracken was a leading republican figure in the city around the time of the United Irishmen rebellion and also worked to support those most in need through Clifton House where she dedicated so much to feeding and sheltering the poor.
 
“Winifred Carney was to the fore of women's rights and suffrage among female factory labourers, organising trade unions within factories with James Connolly. Winnie also went on to fight alongside the revolutionaries of the 1916 Easter Rising in the GPO. 
 
“It is fitting that we celebrate and recognise these trailblazers of women’s rights and national liberation in the grounds of our City Hall."