Matthew Shanks - DUP

04/05/2026

A very enjoyable holiday aboard the MV Queen Victoria for these past number of nights!

It is great to thoroughly relax and unwind now and again. Politics is important, but it’s also crucial to make memories with those you love.

That said, I’m looking forward to returning to Northern Ireland and continuing to do my bit for the local community, whether it be in Dunmurry, Lisburn, or beyond. There’s lots of work to and someone has to do it! 😉

Should you have contacted me while I was away, I’ll make sure to pick up on it as soon as possible and get back to you. For those I have been assisting already, I haven’t forgotten about you, and will be in contact with updates and advice as soon as I can!

Thank you!

Matthew Shanks

🇬🇧

03/05/2026

Great to see some of Dunmurry’s RFD/Survitec safety equipment on board Cunard’s MV Queen Victoria! 🛳️

Safe in the hands of the skilled local men and women behind it! 😉

27/04/2026

📍Glenhead Avenue, Dunmurry
✅ Hedge pruned and cleaned up

Pleased that, after many months (you can see it in how the weather changes in the pictures!) the hedge at Glenhead Avenue was trimmed back and tidied up following my raising of it with DfI.

Residents had noted the inconvenience posed by this. It took a lot of hounding of DfI to get them to take action and, unfortunately, months went by until they took responbility.

The job they did at first was very poor, leaving a lot of debris, so additional hounding was necessary to get this tided up.

I don’t think the kerbstone has seen the light of day in years!

Glad to have got this sorted (finally)!

Matthew Shanks

27/04/2026

Pleased to see this Virgin/O2 (not Openreach) electrical box at the Glenburn Road car park repaired following my raising of it with them.

I see the local Alliance representative claiming this, noting that it was fixed following him contacting Openreach. How could they fix it if they don’t own it? Interesting! 🤔

✅

27/04/2026

Strong leadership and wise words from the DUP’s Emma Little-Pengelly MLA!

⬇️⬇️⬇️

27/04/2026

𝐃𝐮𝐧𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐲 - 𝐈𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐈𝐭 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬

It is both saddening and infuriating that it has taken a literal bomb, at a police station no less, for Dunmurry’s so-called ‘representatives’ to remember this place exists.

Over 10 years in Belfast City Council, and Sinn Fein councillors who cover this area are never anywhere to be seen, nor are People Before Profit or the SDLP when they still had representation here. Not to mention the Alliance Party, of course, who seem to dip in and out whenever they can find the time — so generous of them! The Sinn Fein and People Before Profit MLAs who represent the area, as a result of recent boundary changes, are also following suit and pay lip service to this place whenever it is convenient for them.

The reality is, for all the talk of the “community” here in Dunmurry, these ‘representatives’ know nothing about this place.

Most disgustingly, some of them have the absolute gall to defend the construction of an illegal statue in Twinbrook depicting Bobby Sands, a man who bombed the Balmoral Furniture Shop, just down the road from this recent incident in 1976, injuring two people. Undoubtedly, they would also believe there was “no alternative” to the previous bombing of the police station in 1988.

You don’t get to praise bombers and then condemn the bombs - it’s that simple.

What Sinn Fein and the other parties need to realise is that residents in Dunmurry can see right through their nonsense. Their faux concern for this place is fooling absolutely no one. Remember how they presented themselves as ‘on the ground’ after the spate of burglaries in Kingsway? Well, it’s interesting that they only showed up when they saw others were speaking to businesses and residents first - much like they’re doing here. ‘Brass neck’ doesn’t even begin to cover it.

Ultimately, they should just be honest and admit they couldn’t care less about Dunmurry’s crumbling infrastructure, dilapidated parks, and overall neglect; people deserve that honesty at the very least.

Unlike these so-called ‘representatives’, the DUP and I will continue to stand up for Dunmurry every day, not just when a camera is nearby, and fight for better services and amenities for people here.

While I wasn’t able to be there, I was really pleased to see my party colleagues, Frank McCoubrey and Emma Little-Pengelly, on the ground alongside the Dunmurry Community Association speaking with residents and providing reassurance. That’s true leadership — not the pathetic attempts we have seen from Sinn Fein and the others.

The community in Dunmurry is strong, and our resilience means we’ll get past this attack soon enough, but, rest assured, we will never forget how some sought to inflict this sort of pain on our area again.

Despite what has happened, I look forward to being back in Dunmurry soon and continuing my and my colleagues’ work in the area. This place has so much potential, and the people of Dunmurry deserve to have it unlocked! 💪🏻

South Belfast DUP
Lagan Valley DUP

26/04/2026

Great to see Frank and Emma down in Dunmurry today speaking to residents.

I’m sorry I couldn’t be there, but I know people there will appreciate having DUP representatives on the ground alongside the Dunmurry Community Association!

26/04/2026

Bobby Sands, a man who has been honoured in an illegally erected statue, bombed Dunmurry in 1976.

The glorifying of such figures, including by Sinn Fein representatives, emboldens people to carry out similar acts today.

Those responsible must be brought to justice.

26/04/2026

Well said, Phillip Brett MLA! 👏👏👏

Whether it was 1976, 1986 or 1996 - the bombers failed. The cowardly bombers in 2026 will fail too.

Northern Ireland utterly rejects them.

26/04/2026

𝐍𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐭

The car explosion outside Dunmurry Police Station must be treated with the utmost seriousness. The full facts must be established as a matter of urgency.

If this was another attempt by dissident republicans to intimidate communities and target the police, it must be met with the full force of the law. No family living nearby in our community should have to fear this kind of violence on their doorstep.

Coming just weeks after the serious incident in Lurgan, whether these attacks reflect rivalry between dissident groups or part of a bigger pattern, the aim is clear. They want to drag Northern Ireland back to the past and undermine the stability we have all worked so hard for.

These people have nothing to offer except destruction and division.

We cannot afford any complacency on security. Our intelligence services and police have done an outstanding job protecting lives over the years. Yet incidents like this are a reminder that the threat has not gone away and needs constant vigilance.

What makes this even more troubling is that it happened in Dunmurry, the very place where in 1976 Bobby Sands was involved in the IRA firebombing of the Balmoral Furniture Company. Yet today many in republican circles are defending and celebrating the new statue of Sands in nearby Twinbrook.

Honouring people linked to that kind of violence does not bring closure. It risks giving it a sense of legitimacy. When we glorify the bombers of the past, it only encourages those who still want to plant bombs today.

Our police officers and the public should never have to live with this fear. Those responsible must be caught and brought to justice, and their attempts to intimidate our community in Dunmurry will not succeed.

South Belfast DUP
Lagan Valley DUP

26/04/2026

Statement from the DUP Leader, Gavin Robinson ⬇️