Northern Ireland Centenary Stone: DUP, UUP and TUV ask for Assembly contribution to install sculpture marking creation of Northern Ireland

The sculpture was due to be unveiled at Parliament Buildings this summer. However it is reported that the plans were delayed due to questions about where to locate the stone and associated costs.

Originally the parties had planned to locate it on the western side of the building but this has now changed to the eastern side, the BBC has reported.

The DUP, UUP and TUV had originally said the stone would be paid for by unionist MLAs and would pose no cost to the public purse.

However the parties have now sent a joint letter to the Assembly Commission - which manages the facilities around Stormont - to say that it would be "problematic" to require them to cover the "full installation costs".Intead, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, Doug Beattie and Jim Allister instead proposed contributing £4,000 and asked for Stormont to "bear the balance costs".They wrote that this was a "fair and equitable way forward" as the planned eastern location is a "more elaborate and costly setting" than the western site originally proposed.

The BBC reported that officials estimated the installation costs for the eastern site as £18,000, but only £4,000 for the western location.

The party leaders wrote: "We also think that requiring a donor to undertake the full installation costs, as suggested, is problematic not just in this instance but in respect of the practicalities and the precedent going forward."Is it now to be policy that if any further memorials or structures are requested at Parliament Buildings, then, those seeking such will have to bear the full costs of production and installation, or is the centenary stone project alone to be treated in this way?"They requested a meeting with officials "so that our respective parties can clarify and agree on an acceptable way forward".

In the centenary year of Northern Ireland - 2021 - Sinn Fein sparked a political row when they blocked the installation of the stone, claiming it only represented one side of the community.

However, the installation was passed this year because Sinn Fein lost its representative on the commission, which makes the decisions.An Assembly spokeswoman said the commission received a report in June "on the detail of issues to give effect to its previous decision to agree to erect a centenary stone donated by the unionist parties".

"These issues included environmental heritage and planning permission, equality and good relations and associated costs," she added. "Discussions have not yet concluded on this matter."

The unionist parties have been asked to comment.

A DUP Spokesperson said, "This is a joint project between the Unionist parties. We believe it is fitting that there is a permanent recognition in the grounds of Parliament Buildings to mark Northern Ireland's centenary in 2021.

"The proposal, first put to the Assembly Commission, was that the stone would be donated from contributions made by Unionist members and that it would be sited on the West side of Parliament Buildings by the Assembly Commission.

“Subsequent issues have arisen relating to siting the Centenary Stone on the East Side of Parliament Buildings (which is the preferred site of the Commission and its Officials) and associated additional installation costs and we look forward to finding a fair and equitable outcomes on these issues in the near future."