Lord Mayor Niall O Donnghaile ‘must apologise or resign’
Unionists on Belfast City Council have called for the lord mayor to publicly apologise for not presenting an award to an army cadet or resign.
Niall O Donnghaile, Sinn Fein, said he did not give the Duke of Edinburgh award to the teenage girl to avoid raising any sensitivities.
But unionist councillors said they were “appalled”. They intend to present their demand to council officials.
They plan to discuss this issue at Belfast city hall later on Thursday.
DUP councillor Gavin Robinson said the lord mayor’s action was “shameful”.
“It is very sad that we have a lord mayor, sold to us as youthful, dynamic and pragmatic, who is somebody who sought to politicise with his petty prejudices an event that marks the development of children,” he said.
Mr Robinson acknowledged the gestures made by former Sinn Fein lord mayors such as Tom Hartley and Alex Maskey to reach out to the unionist community.
But he said Mr O Donnghaile’s behaviour was “highly regrettable”.
However, Sinn Fein’s Martin O Muilleor accused unionists of attempting to derail a progressive lord mayor.
“We won’t be taking any lectures on inclusion from the DUP. These are the people who, for 100 years, would not have a Catholic lord mayor, never mind a Sinn Fein lord mayor,” he said.
“Today, the DUP deputy lord mayor will not talk to the Sinn Fein lord mayor, never mind shake his hand. So whatever lessons we need to learn about outreach, and we all need to stretch ourselves in these matters, we won’t be taking any lectures from the DUP.”
The message to be delivered to council officials has been signed by members of the DUP, Ulster Unionists, PUP and independent unionist Frank McCoubrey.
It reads: “This council is appalled that the lord mayor politicised the Duke of Edinburgh Awards presentation in City Hall on 28 November by refusing to present an award to a young member of the Armed Cadet Forces; affirms that the civic position of lord mayor is about representing and respecting everyone within this city and calls on the lord mayor to publicly apologise for his actions and the gross offence caused.
“Failure to do so immediately would render his position untenable and he should resign.”
In a joint statement from the DUP and UUP, Aldermen Robin Newton and David Brown said that the lord mayor had brought his office into “disrepute by his actions”.
They said that “such petty bigotry has no place in modern society”.
On Tuesday, Mr O Donnghaile said he would be happy to meet the cadet and her family to explain his decision. He said it was “nothing personal”.
“At the last minute I was informed that one of the awards was to be presented to a representative of the Army Cadet Force,” Mr O Donnghaile added.
“In order to avoid any unnecessary sensitivities to either party, it was arranged for the outgoing chairman of the organisation to present some of the certificates alongside me.
“I take my responsibilities as being a mayor for all very seriously.”
