Candidates Paddy Lynn & Kevin McNally crossing the Sam Thompson Bridge

On what was a rare occasion in Belfast, a part of the city’s great radical tradition was recognised and celebrated with the opening of the Sam Thompson Bridge in East Belfast.

Thompson was a trade unionist, a playwright and a member of the Northern Ireland Labour Party. He was a life long campaigner against sectarianism and is probably best remembered for his 1960s play ‘Over the Bridge’.

Belfast’s radical tradition and those who contribute to it are too often ignored or marginalised. The opening of a bridge named after Sam Thompson is a welcome departure from that.

Amongst the many thousands marking the occasion were Party representatives and local government candidates Kevin McNally (Titanic Ward, East Belfast) and Paddy Lynn ( Central Ward, South Belfast).

The Sam Thompson Bridge is part of the £35 million Greenway linear park project in the east of the city and links Victoria Park with the Titanic Quarter.