Ulster Museum gets republican artefacts from former mayor

Tom Hartley, right, with National Museums' director of collections William Blair

A new exhibition has opened at the Ulster Museum which includes artefacts from recent Irish republican history.

They are from a wide-ranging personal collection of former Sinn Féin lord mayor of Belfast, Tom Hartley.

Included is a ballot paper from the 1981 Fermanagh-South Tyrone by-election won by IRA hunger-striker Bobby Sands.

A copy of his nomination paper is also on display. It is signed by 10 people, including former MP Bernadette McAliskey.

Now retired from elected politics, Mr Hartley is an author and historian.

The exhibition will be on display in Ulster Museum's Belfast Room until January next year.

A poster for the play Binlids

In a news release announcing the exhibition, a museum spokesperson said: "Since 2001 Tom has made a sustained and significant contribution to the Ulster Museum, donating over 2,000 objects across a broad political and social spectrum, ranging from a bin-lid featuring a portrait of Ché Guevara to a City Hall flag protest 'hi-vis' vest."

The exhibition opened on Wednesday evening at a reception attended by a number of academics, historians and politicians, including former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams.

Reflecting on his collection of posters, papers, clothing and objects, Mr Hartley said: "I believe that significant moments of history, moments of change, can be seen in small ephemeral things that can appear unimportant at the time.

"To me, collecting material like that is important as, over time, they will become an archive for future historians."

A west Belfast tour t-shirt is also on display

National Museums NI has 1.4 million objects across its four museum sites, and is continuously adding to its collection.

William Blair, director of collections, said: "Tom has been a supporter and critical friend to the museum for many years now.

"He has collected material that we simply couldn't have collected ourselves, and the key to his success is his extensive networks across a broad spectrum of society, and the personal relationships that enable him to ask for items in the moment."

The exhibition is entitled 'A Collector's Story'.