James Nesbitt

Actor James Nesbitt has said he is "unnerved" and "saddened" after being targeted with graffiti, which police are treating as a hate crime.

Caoimhe Archibald, a Sinn Féin assembly member, said the graffiti was a "sinister effort to silence debate" and she called for those behind it to be held accountable. The actor said he found out about the graffiti as he was travelling back from a holiday. "In a democracy people are entitled to engage in a public conversation about the future and that is all I was intending to do when I took part in the debate," he said. "If there is going to be change in the relationship between the north and the south [of Ireland] and the rest of the British Isles, then I was hoping to put forward the point that people from my tradition feel that their identity is in no way threatened and they have an equal voice." He described himself as a "proud Protestant from the north of Ireland". Actor James Nesbitt has said he is "unnerved" and "saddened" after being targeted with graffiti, which police are treating as a hate crime.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland said they are investigating the graffiti at Bushmills Road in Portrush - believed to have been written sometime between ...

I am trying to get it out of the Dáil, out of Whitehall, and into the church halls, the town halls, the village halls and the Orange halls, so that everyone and leaders of civic society begin to have much more of an impact on what the change should be.” “I think what I am more interested in is that sectarianism is eradicated in the North.” “I was there just saying I think there has to be a debate,” he said. “It is a bit unnerving, of course, and it also saddens me a bit,” he said. In fact, it saddens me that people maybe didn’t fully analyse what I said, maybe just saw opening headlines and made their own judgement.” But what saddens me more is that some people may have misunderstood my position and of course that is causing difficulties,” he told Radio Ulster’s Talkback with William Crawley.

The message threatening the Cold Feet actor was daubed on a wall in the predominantly unionist town of Portrush in Co Antrim.

“These threats are an attack on the right to freedom of expression. Those responsible for this hate crime should be held to account. “Jimmy Nesbitt is a local lad who has invested in his own community,” said the DUP representative. “Those painting threatening graffiti such as this should stop. He should be able to do so free from fear. “The graffiti is believed to have been written on the wall some time between 5pm on Tuesday and 7.30pm on Wednesday evening and is being treated as a hate crime.”

The actor recently delivered a keynote address at an Ireland's Future event in the 3Arena.

“I totally condemn this attack on James Nesbitt even though I fundamentally disagree with him. For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can make sure we can keep reliable, meaningful news open to everyone regardless of their ability to pay. For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can help keep paywalls away. More than 5,000 readers have already pitched in to keep free access to The Journal. Readers like you keep news free for everyone. The PSNI received a report of graffiti on a wall in the Bushmills Road area of Portrush on yesterday.

Police are treating the graffiti on the Bushmills Road, as a hate crime. Believed to have been written some time between 5pm on Tuesday and 7.30pm on Wednesday, ...

Unquestionably, the majority of people there are seeking a united Ireland , that doesn't mean I was." "I totally condemn this attack on James Nesbitt even though I fundamentally disagree with him. "I certainly don't promote any solution and I don't support any outcome. I've never shied away from my Protestant culture but it doesn't define me. The slogan appeared just weeks after Mr Nesbitt spoke at the Ireland's Future event in Dublin. "I really love Portrush and I'm sure it doesn't represent what the majority...I hope it doesn't represent what the majority of people think here," he said.