A new sculpture has been unveiled at Belfast's Waterfront Hall.

New Sun, by sculptor Wolfgang Buttress, was developed with the help of schoolchildren from six primary schools across the city.

The artwork was created a series of workshops attended by a number of schools from across Belfast as well as older people during the City Hall reopening celebrations.

The workshops focused on plans for RISE, the new landmark sculpture for Broadway Roundabout.

When installed in 2010, RISE will be the biggest public artwork in Belfast - a globe-shaped white and silver aluminium sculpture, standing at 123 feet high by 98.4 feet wide and will be visible from several miles away.

New Sun captures the schoolchildren's responses to the plans for RISE. Weighing almost half a tonne, the artwork is made up of 234 cast acrylic sheets that bear words inspired by RISE – many of which were inscribed by the children themselves.

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Councillor William Humphrey, Chairman of Belfast City Council’s Development Committee, commented: "RISE will be a stunning new landmark for Belfast – and it’s been great that these young people's responses to the plans have created an artwork in themselves. Wolfgang tells me that their enthusiasm and optimism during the workshops was really infectious.

"Our young people are filled with hope and aspirations for the future – and I think that New Sun radiates that energy, just as RISE itself will be a representation of a new sun rising to celebrate a new chapter in the history of Belfast."

Wolfgang Buttress, added: "It’s been very important to me to engage with local communities and it's been a real pleasure to work with these children – especially since the result of the workshops has been so poetic."

RISE is funded by Belfast City Council, the Department for Social Development (Regeneration Directorate) and the National Lottery through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, and is supported by DRD Roads Service.

Following today's unveiling, New Sun will remain on permanent display on the concourse at the Waterfront.

(NS/BMcC)