Council’s blue plaque deal could pave way for Mark Ashton Portrush memorial – Sugden

East Londonderry Independent MLA Claire Sugden said: “The Council have agreed with the history group to install one blue plaque per year in the constituency – plaques which mark places associated with people who have made significant contributions to society.

"Despite significant support, a previous campaign to have a plaque or other memorial erected for Mark Ashton in the town was unsuccessful, with some councillors opposing any kind of memorial to Mark.

“After growing up in Portrush, Mark moved to London where he was a key figure in the gay rights movement. He founded the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) group during the miners’ strikes of 1984. He died in 1987 of an AIDS-related illness, aged 26, and later had a garden in Paris named after him as well as a blue plaque in London.

“Despite a memorial and tree planting having taken place last year in St Columb’s Park in Londonderry, I would wholeheartedly support a campaign to erect a blue plaque for Mark in Portrush – the town he grew up in and where he attended the former catering college.

“He had the courage to stand up for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community at a time when doing so put you at risk of personal, social and professional harm. Locals should be proud of all this area’s prominent and significant sons and daughters," Ms Sugden said.

She urged everyone within the Council to remember all the brave, innovative and successful people with connections with the area and to grasp this opportunity to do so.

“My Northern Irishness is about celebrating people and place, and Mark is definitely one of those people we need to celebrate,” she continued. “We should be proud of people like him and acknowledge it – in the same way people in England, France and even our neighbouring borough clearly already have."

She said that the recent LGBTQ+ History Month, showed “just how far we’ve come in terms of equality and respect – much of this thanks to people like Mark.”