Changing Belfast City Hall

BELFAST CITY COUNCIL | REPUBLICAN POLITICS IN ACTION

» BY PEADAR WHELAN

Sinn Féin’s Jim 'Flash' Mcveigh at Belfast City Hall

THE CONTROVERSY surrounding the awards ceremony at Belfast City Hall when Mayor Niall Ó Donnghaile opted out of presenting a certificate to a member of the British Army Cadet Force served to remind nationalists in the North that “Stone Age unionism” is alive and well.

DUP and UUP politicians vied with each other in feigned outrage as they demanded an apology and/or Niall’s resignation. Masked thugs aligned to the UVF laid siege to the City Hall threatening that the Mayor would be “lynched” if he dared appear.

Jim McVeigh, a former political prisoner who spent time in the H-Blocks, was at pains to put the recent controversy in context. For him it was simply a unionist over-reaction to a minor incident in an excellent mayoral term.

“Certainly there was a sinister element to the protests outside the City Hall on 1 December. Unionist politicians wound the crowd up and there is no doubt some in the crowd have links to the UVF but we need to see that in the context of the ongoing changes in City Hall,” McVeigh told An Phoblacht.

‘While the objective of changing the ethos of City Hall is important, we still need to remember there are people out there with no jobs and who are worried about paying their mortgages’

Jim McVeigh

He pointed out that Sinn Féin is the biggest party on Belfast City Council and is using its mandate to make changes.

“We want to move away from ‘Big House politics’ and ensure that the council works in the interest of the people to promote a better quality of life, employment and respect for different cultures and religions.” Said the Falls Road councillor:

“One of our main objectives centres on changes to the way City Hall is seen by nationalists. The Union flag flies on the building 365 days a year. This is offensive to nationalists. Unionists also fly the Union Jack on the Ulster Hall and the Duncrue Street cleansing depot, which is a workplace and should be neutral.

“This flies in the face of Equality legislation so in March we asked that an Equality Assessment (EQA) take place. Its findings have far-reaching implications for unionism and the culture of City Hall.”

McVeigh explained that the report highlights the British imperialist, militarist, unionist/Protestant and white male ethos that dominates the building.

“This alienates not only nationalists but the many people from the various ethnic and religious groupings who have come to live and work in Belfast over the years. So a lot of the artefacts that reflect what can only be described as the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) culture will have to be removed.”

McVeigh notes the EQA also says that the flags flying on the Ulster Hall and the Duncrue depot will have to go while the City Hall flag can only be flown on the 17 days allowed under legislation.

“This process is difficult for unionists and goes some way towards explaining their reaction to Niall,” stated McVeigh.

“That said, we are trying to stay focused on what is important to us as republicans and while the objective of changing the ethos of City Hall is important, we still need to remember there are people out there with no jobs and who are worried about paying their mortgages.”

The Sinn Féin councillor outlined plans that the council is working on to create jobs throughout the council area.

“All parties are working together on this and by February we plan to launch a significant investment package for the city. We are working with the investment agencies and the private sector to create jobs. We have identified a couple of capital projects and we are looking to Europe to help fund them.”

Sinn Féin is also pushing the council to adopt an anti-poverty strategy ‘to try and deal with the deep-seated deprivation that exists in working-class areas across the city, much of it the result of the failure of unionist politics throughout the decades since partition’

Jim McVeigh

He said Sinn Féin is also pushing the council to adopt an anti-poverty strategy “to try and deal with the deep-seated deprivation that exists in working-class areas across the city, much of it the result of the failure of unionist politics throughout the decades since partition”, adding:

“Unfortunately the strategy is weak but at least it’s something we can build on. The main stumbling block is the DUP and this is despite the fact that places like the Shankill suffer some of the worst deprivation in the North.”

McVeigh believes the DUP attitude reflects an unreconstructed bigotry and sectarianism in its ranks “and their resistance to what we are doing comes from that”.

McVeigh praised the team of Sinn Féin councillors who now sit in the council.

“We have a team of young radical activists who are determined to challenge this negative unionism and bring about positive change that is in the interests of the people of the city.

“We are driving the agenda for change in political, cultural and economic areas. We are looking to a better future for all the people of the city.

“This is republican politics in action.”