The landmark’s left eye suffered extensive damage during an incident at Donegall Quay in the early hours of Sunday.
UPDATE (22 Sep): Man remanded accused of causing £10,000 damage to Belfast’s Big Fish.
A 44-year-old man has been arrested after Belfast’s famous Big Fish sculpture was allegedly attacked with a sledgehammer in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Police responded at approximately 12.30am following reports that a man was damaging the landmark at Donegall Quay, beside the River Lagan.
The sculpture, officially known as the Salmon of Knowledge, sustained extensive damage to its left eye. Photographs taken after the incident show a large hole in the eye area, with fragments of tile and other debris scattered on the paving below.
The man was arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage to the sculpture and possessing an offensive weapon in a public place.
Local volunteers who were in the area are understood to have acted quickly by alerting police. Officers attended and made an arrest shortly afterwards.
The allegations remain subject to investigation, and the arrested man should be regarded as innocent unless proven guilty.
Who created Belfast’s Big Fish?
The Big Fish was designed and created by Belfast-born artist John Kindness, one of Northern Ireland’s best-known contemporary artists.
Kindness, who was born in 1951 and studied at Belfast College of Art, has worked across painting, sculpture and mixed media. His work frequently uses familiar materials and historical references in surprising or humorous ways.
The Big Fish has become his most instantly recognisable work in Belfast and one of the city’s best-known pieces of public art.
When was the Big Fish installed?
The sculpture was created and installed at Donegall Quay in 1999 as part of the regeneration of the River Lagan waterfront.
That means the Big Fish has occupied its riverside home for around 27 years, watching over a part of Belfast that has changed dramatically since the late 1990s.
The work was commissioned by the former Laganside Corporation, which oversaw the transformation of previously neglected land along the river. It was supported by public arts funding and designed to celebrate both Belfast’s history and the renewed relationship between the city and the Lagan.
Its location also carries historical significance. The sculpture stands close to where the River Farset meets the River Lagan. Belfast takes its name from the Irish Béal Feirste, commonly translated as “mouth of the Farset”.
A 10-metre history of Belfast
Measuring approximately 10 metres long, the giant salmon is covered with hundreds of blue-and-white printed ceramic tiles.
Those tiles are not simply decorative. Each one contributes to a visual history of Belfast through photographs, maps, newspaper extracts, documents, poems and drawings.
The images range from material connected to Tudor times to more recent moments in the city’s story. Historical material supplied by the Ulster Museum was combined with contributions from Belfast schoolchildren and community groups, giving the sculpture both an archival and deeply local character.
Among the many details incorporated into its scales are portraits, pieces of writing, familiar Belfast imagery and children’s interpretations of the city. The result is a public artwork that reveals more the closer visitors look.
Hidden inside the sculpture is a time capsule containing information, images and poetry about Belfast, preserving a snapshot of the city at the end of the 20th century.
Why is it called the Salmon of Knowledge?
Although almost everyone in Belfast calls it the Big Fish, the work’s official name connects it to the Irish legend of the Salmon of Knowledge.
In the traditional story, the salmon gains all the world’s wisdom after eating magical hazelnuts. The young Fionn mac Cumhaill later tastes the fish and receives that knowledge.
Kindness’s sculpture uses the salmon as a symbol of memory, storytelling and wisdom, while its tiled surface allows the history of Belfast itself to become part of the legend.
One of Belfast’s most photographed landmarks
Over more than a quarter of a century, the Big Fish has grown into a familiar symbol of modern Belfast — a fixture on any Belfast bucket list.
Positioned near the Lagan Weir, Custom House and the route towards the Titanic Quarter, it is passed every day by commuters, walkers and visitors. It has appeared in countless holiday photographs, tourism campaigns and social media posts, becoming an unofficial meeting point on the waterfront — and a staple of free things to do in Belfast.
The sculpture is particularly associated with the regeneration of the riverside, which helped reconnect Belfast city centre with the Lagan after decades when much of the waterfront was dominated by industry and derelict land.
Extent of repairs not yet known
The full cost of repairing the damaged eye has not yet been confirmed, nor has a timetable been announced for restoration work.
Because the surface is made from individually designed printed ceramic tiles, repairing the landmark may require specialist conservation work to reproduce or restore the damaged section accurately.
The incident has prompted concern among residents who regard the Big Fish as much more than a tourist attraction. For 27 years, it has told Belfast’s story through its scales — and there will now be strong hopes that its damaged eye can be restored as quickly and faithfully as possible.
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