A section of a Belfast peace wall has been reduced to rubble after sustaining damage during Storm Darragh.

Gusts of up to 70mph battered the country over the weekend, causing extensive damage to premises and felling a number of trees.

Damage was also caused to the electricity network, with around 48,000 people left without electricity at its peak.

The damaged stretch of wall on Northumberland Street in the west of the city is on the interface between the Divis and Shankill areas and sits close to New Life City Church.

Watch: Section of west Belfast peace wall reduced to rubble after Storm Darragh

Pastor Johnny McKee said he became aware of the damage over the weekend.

“I came down on Saturday morning. I was coming down just to see if there was any damage done and the gates were closed,” he told the Belfast Telegraph.

“We had just put up a Christmas tree between the gates and I thought ‘I hope our tree hasn’t blown down’.

“Then the closer I got, I saw some debris on the road. Thankfully, it was all cleaned up by the end of the day on Saturday.”

The Department of Justice (DoJ) and Belfast City Council have been approached for comment.

Mural that was blown down on Northumberland Street, West Belfast. 10th December 2024

Saturday’s storm also caused damage to a notorious loyalist terror mural in north Belfast.

The top of the infamous ‘Prepared For Peace, Ready For War’ mural at the entrance to Mount Vernon estate in north Belfast was blown off by the high winds.

The mural bearing two masked gunmen was built in the former powerbase of the Mount Vernon UVF unit which was led by jailed terror chief and police informer Mark Haddock.

In 2007, former Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan’s report into that gang’s campaign of murder found evidence that members were working as special branch agents. She also concluded that police had colluded with loyalists to protect them from arrest and prosecution.

Last month ex-Special Branch agent Haddock ended a legal challenge to being denied “repatriation” back to Northern Ireland. He is serving a sentence in England for a knife attack on an associate.