Council Asset naming taken to Equality Commission by S.F.

A new policy on the naming of council assets could be discriminating against politicians and those involved in government, a Sinn Fein councillor has claimed.
Sinn Fein Councillor Patricia Logue .Sinn Fein Councillor Patricia Logue .
Sinn Fein Councillor Patricia Logue .

Councillor Patricia Logue confirmed she has contacted the Equality Commission over the matter as she suggested the draft proposals be changed. However her proposal was rejected by a majority of councillors in a vote taken during the monthly council meeting on Thursday.

At a previous council committee meeting, Councillors were asked to approve a pilot Council Assets Naming Policy and also for a proposed consultation plan in relation to the renaming of Brandywell Stadium. A majority of councillors at the time had endorsed the policy element which stated that council asset naming proposals will not be considered when the name is that of a political/ government representative.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Councillor Logue, who had also raised concerns over this at that earlier meeting, said that her party considered this discriminatory and unlawful.

She said that if this was someone of a religious persuasion, it would not be entertained, and that the proposed policy element in relation to politicians and government figures was “discrimination against a certain group of people in society.”

However, the majority of councillors refused to vote with Sinn Fein and SDLP Colr. Brian Tierney’s proposal that the pilot naming policy recommendations be accepted unamended, was backed by 21 councillors to 16 against, with one abstention.