Limavady Borough Council will vote tonight on whether to back a report which favours the removal of British and unionist symbols from Council property.
Members of the nationalist-controlled authority will meet this evening to consider a working group report that recommends the removal of emblems and artefacts from council-owned facilities.
The report is the outcome of a Sinn Fein/SDLP working gro
up that was set up in 2005 to consider creating a 'neutral working space'. Limavady's unionist councillors refused to take up their positions on the group.
Items up for removal include a statue of William Ferguson Massey, an Orangeman who left Limavady as a teenager and went on to become Prime Minister of New Zealand.
Others include a Charles and Diana wedding mug, a Royal British Legion certificate, plates, pictures and paperweights given to the town by visiting soldiers.
Sinn Fein councillor, Cathal Hasson, who is a member of the working group, said that Limavady's unionists would have benefited from taking up their positions.
"Our ideal would have been to have come to a situation where both traditions were represented", he said.
"As the unionist councillors did not take up their positions, this was not possible. We looked at the options and came up with a policy in June 2007 which would create a neutral working space.
"Limavady is a garrison town and the British Army have left their mark. There is very little to represent the majority nationalist community in the Borough."
Mr. Hasson said that discussions were already underway to find new homes for the items earmarked for removal.
"These symbols and artefacts will not be thrown out, as is thought," he said.
"They will be re-housed and we are all already in discussions with like-minded organisations and museums. However, it is ultimately a matter for council to decide."
East Derry M.P Gregory Campbell insists the Council is leaving itself open to ridicule and liekened the move to "heightened hypocrisy".
Farcical
"This farcical and offensive move is now made even more ironic by the fact that Limavady Council has just recently circulated to other councils a resolution calling for 'inclusivity' in filling civic positions", he said.
"The Motion also calls on Environment Minister Arlene Foster to take action to 'ensure maximum public confidence' in local government after the Reform of Public Administration.
"The motion was discussed at Londonderry Council's Policy and Resources Committee on January 10 when both Sinn Fein and SDLP members spoke in favour of it.
"Is it too much to expect that acute embarrassment would cause a rethink on their part? It is difficult to imagine more heightened hypocrisy than this, sending out a resolution to other Councils which appears to ask for tolerance and inclusivity while at the same time in practice seeking to carry out the exact opposite"
