Queen's portrait back on display at Stormont House
A portrait of the Queen is back on display in Stormont House after being removed in July.
The image is on display in the public area of the building, a government spokesperson confirmed. Pictures of the Queen had been removed, with a peer claiming in the House of Lords that a Northern Ireland Office official had been offended by them. It was claimed that the employee was awarded £10,000 compensation for having to walk past portraits of the Queen. A government spokesperson said on Thursday that the portrait was being displayed "alongside a balanced set of images celebrating and reflecting the work of the Northern Ireland Office". Ulster Unionist peer Lord Rogan welcomed the news saying he was glad "some common sense has been applied". He added: "It's a pity that the common sense which now appears to have been applied to this issue hadn`t been on display in the first place and could have avoided the embarrassment heaped on the NIO." DUP leader Arlene Foster said in a tweet she was "glad the matter had been resolved" but called it "deeply embarrassing" for a UK government department. "The secretary of state has made the right decision, but questions remain as to how the NIO allowed this situation to develop", she added. How did we get here? The issue was first reported after being raised in Parliament by Lord Maginnis in July. It was alleged that an NIO employee claimed, under human rights legislation, that it was unfair for him to have to work where he was offended by portraits. Many nationalists in Northern Ireland do not regard themselves as British and would not recognise the Queen as their head of state. The Northern Ireland Office subsequently confirmed all portraits of the Queen had been removed from Stormont House. Northern Ireland Secretary of State Julian Smith said, at the time, he recognised "the importance of the Northern Ireland Office being an open and inclusive place to work". 'Intimidating or hostile workplace' Earlier this month, Mr Smith later said he was ordering an internal review into the removal of pictures of the Queen. A government spokesperson said the review would report in "due course". The Northern Ireland Equality Commission has said the display of a portrait of the Queen in a building where civil servants work was not unlawful. It added the issue was "all about context".