Derry & Strabane Councillors clash over marking 2021 Partition/ Northern Ireland centenary

Two separate motions were tabled at the meeting by DUP Alderman Hilary McClintock and Independent Councillor Gary Donnelly, both of which were passed by majority.

The issue was initially raised by DUP Alderman Hilary McClintock at Thursday evening’s monthly full Council meeting during discussions on minutes from a previous meeting, where plans for the Centenary of NI in 2021 were relayed.

Ald. McClintock took issue with comments made by Sinn Féin Councillor Mickey Cooper at that earlier meeting, when he criticised some of the language used within the Council report, specifically in relation to NI being one of the four countries within the UK, and he also said his party would not be supporting proposals that celebrated the North as a single entity.

Ald McClintock said the centenary of NI was “an occasion that’s of the utmost importance and significance to many people in this country including many in this Council area”.

She said: “We in the unionist community are very aware that we live in a Council area that has a strongly nationalist majority. We are also aware that this Council has always led the way on finding accommodation for all shades of political opinion, so it is very worrying that Sinn Féin is putting down their marker as to what they will accept even before the Decade of Centenaries meeting to discuss this.

“I’m sure I don’t need to give Colr. Cooper or anyone else in this Council chamber a history lesson but yes, NI is one of the four countries of the UK. I’d remind anybody that needs reminding that articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution have been removed and even the south accepts the legitimacy of NI. In fact the UK of GB and Ireland was a sovereign state since 1801 and it was the south that decided to become the free state. History cannot be rewritten.

“My community finds nothing positive in the very negative comments during the Business and Culture meeting. We as a Council managed to find our way through the very challenging 1916 Centenary commemorations and we in the DUP hope we will find the accommodation necessary to see our way through this centenary.”

Funding

Ald. McClintock said she had spoken to an outside body who would consider part funding local events, and proposed the Council write to the NI Executive seeking information and clarity as to what provision they will be making to support those “who wish to celebrate this momentous occasion.”

She later elaborated that it would be helpful if the Decade of Centenaries (DoC) working group - set up several years ago to prepare and oversee the marking 100 years on of a decade of pivotal developments in Irish history a century ago - was able to garner what sort of funding they would be working with.

Responding to those comments, Colr. Cooper said he had been very specific in his language at the Committee. “I am aware that a lot of people in the city and district will want to in their words ‘celebrate’ the centenary of the north and that is their right, I’ve no issue with that whatsoever,” he said. “The points I made at the Committee were very specific. In terms of the language used in the reports - and as an historian I don’t need a history lesson either - what I said was that it was unfortunate that type of language was used; we want to be dealing with this in a sensitive way so having language that is more neutral, more diplomatic, that was the point I was making with regards to the reports.”

Colr. Cooper said that in relation to the 1916 commemorations, accommodation was reached to ensure people could apply for funding to the DoC group to commemorate either the Easter Rising or the Battle of the Somme centenary “and we had a very successful year.”

He added that a similar approach should be taken again for 2021, and that the DoC working group was the right place for this so people could apply for funding either to celebrate or criticise Partition, as opposed to Council itself as a corporate entity organising events.

SDLP Colr. Martin Reilly said the right way forward was to allow the DoC working group to meet and fulfil its role and get clarity to see if any money was available. “It’s not something the SDLP would mark in a celebratory way but we recognise the fact that there are people in our Council area to whom this centenary does mean a lot and we shouldn’t be standing in the way of people accessing money to mark an occasion that to them is quite significant,” he said. He added the debate about the union was important for both nationalist as unionist communities and would be an opportunity for inclusive discourse.

Independent Colr. Paul Gallagher however claimed Ald. McClintock’s proposal was a “wee bit delusional” and said that celebrating the centenary smacked of a “British state for a British people” when it had entailed “the drawing of a line on a map by a British Minister and then having the cheek to call it a country”. “I don’t think any right thinking Republican or nationalist will give this one some thought or support ,” he said.

People Before Profit Colr. Colr Harkin said he was neither a nationalist and unionist but was a socialist. “But I don’t think there is anything to celebrate in Partition. Partition has created a division here in our communities in the north and it has divided people all across this island so I think anything that happens around this centenary should be around understanding why it has been such a disaster for all the people of this island and what we can now do to overcome these divisions, which I think is ultimately about ending Partition and creating the kind of new Ireland that many people have been talking about.”

Ald McClintock’s proposal to write to the Executive about funding was carried with 19 voting for it, 15 voting against, and two abstentions.

‘INJUSTICE OF Partition’

Independent Councillor Gary Donnelly then tabled a separate proposal to the effect that “given the injustice of Partition that this Council will not celebrate and commemorate any event that attempts to do so.”

Colr. Donnelly said earlier in the meeting that any Republican or Nationalist taking part in “anything that celebrates or even commemorates the Partition of this country is akin to turkeys voting for Christmas; it’s obscene.”

Speaking after Colr. Donnelly made his proposal, Colr. Cooper said he had already stated that the Council itself would not as a corporate entity host any events, and groups applying to the DoC working group would be hosting their own events, meaning that the situation outlined in the proposal made by Colr. Donnelly would not arise.

Colr. Donnelly clarified later that he was making the proposal because he had no input into the working group and still wanted to make the proposal, which was seconded by Colr, Gallagher.

DUP Ald. David Ramsey said the proposal “is asking the Council to take a stand that to my eyes and to many other people is sectarian”.

Colr. Reilly meanwhile said his party voted for the previous proposal from Ald. McClintock but also agreed that the Council itself should not be trying to support a position of Partition and that they were content to support the proposal tabled by Colr. Donnelly.

DUP Ald. Maurice Devenney said that while quite a number of local people may not be supporting the centenary, he did think the Council was “setting a very, very dangerous precedent” and was almost bordering on the Council turning sectarian against a Unionist minority.

‘No Equality’

UUP Ald. Darren Guy said: “We know that this will split people down the middle, these centenary celebrations, just as the way in 2016 it did the same thing. If I didn’t want to go to something, I wouldn’t turn up to it. This Council prides itself on inclusiveness and equality. There’s no equality in this proposal at all... It’s senseless.”

Alliance Colr. Rachael Ferguson said her party would not be supporting the motion as it was going to cause far too much division.

Aontú Colr. Anne McCloskey said that there was a fundamental difference between political aspirations and political interpretation of history and sectarianism. “Sectarianism is abhorrrent ... I support people’s right to celebrate and commemorate the things that are important to them but I don’t think opposing that, as people of my political background do, I don’t think its fair to equate that with being sectarian.”

Ald McClintock said that this was a “really sad day for community relations in this Council area”, if people voted for the motion.

UUP Alderman Andrew McKane agreed. He said that for a unionist who always felt welcome in the Guildhall and in the city he had to “tear up the script” as he now all of a sudden got the feeling he was not welcome at all.

Colr. Donnelly’s motion was carried with 27 voting in favour, 10 against and no abstentions.