Belfast council rejection of Armed Forces Covenant ‘not procedurally wrong'
DUP councillor who proposed motion says veterans aren't being treated fairly
A decision to reject a motion that would have seen Belfast City Council sign up to the Armed Forces Covenant was not wrong on procedural grounds, a legal review has found.
The DUP 'called-in' the decision to reject the motion, which is aimed at ensuring no former or serving member of the armed services is disadvantaged compared to other citizens when it comes to the provision of public and commercial services.
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BBC News
17 hours ago
- BBC News
Belfast City Hall: What do people think of new plans to charge £4 for exhibition?
Should people be charged to tour a Belfast City Hall exhibition?On Monday, People Before Profit councillor Michael Collins proposed to drop Belfast City Council's plan to charge people £4 to visit the venue's ground floor exhibition, which is usually a vote TUV councillor Ron McDowell was the only politician to second the proposal while the other parties voted against scrapping plans for the new News NI went along to find out what tourists and locals thought about being charged £4 for self-guided tours in the future. What are people being charged for? In May, Belfast City Council agreed plans to charge people a £4 entrance fee to the city hall ground floor exhibition as part of its 'City Hall Income Generation Project'.It was decided that free tours should take place through community visits organised by councillors and that under 18s would be exempt from the new members of the public can turn up for a walk-in booking or book exhibition tickets for up to nine people by email at no cost. Collins said plans to raise revenue by increasing the prices of services was "worrying"."An exhibition that really was free, is now going to be charged. Where does this end? Will we start charging people to access the building itself?", he who seconded the proposal said that he felt Collins had a point, "considering this building is owned by the citizens of Belfast" that it would be charging them for something they "already own". The DUP, SDLP, UUP, Green Party, Sinn Féin, Alliance Party and one Independent councillor voted against the proposal to scrap the new News NI contacted the main parties. A spokesperson for the DUP group on Belfast City Council said that they have a "strategic plan" to deliver more benefit to the ratepayers of the city. "At present tourists to the city, mainly large groups from cruise ships, are accessing the exhibition for free and costs for staffing etc are being absorbed by ratepayers."The £4 charge means visitors can pay £10 to access both the exhibition and a tour of city hall."Provision has been made for residents of the city to still access these for free through civic dignitaries or councillors." What's free and what's not? It is currently free to visit the City Hall visitor exhibition. The exhibition opened in 2017 and is found on the east wing of the ground floor. If offers a self-guided journey from Belfast's past to present across six themed zones, stretching through 16 city hall offers a separate 45 minute guided tour for visitors which costs £6 for adults and is free for tour offers glimpses into areas not usually accessible to the public like the council chamber and some of the upstairs public has full access the toilets, coffee shop, gift shop and stained windows along the north west and north east corridors from the main reception. There are no plans to change this. What do members of the public think? Geraldine and Martin O'Hare, originally from Belfast, came from Melbourne to visit O'Hares have lost neither their accent nor their nostalgia for Belfast."If you come to Belfast, you have to see the City Hall. For Australians or anyone, the City Hall is Belfast. Not the docks. Not the parks."That's what it's all about", Martin told BBC News later, he was reunited with his aunt outside the iconic building that he said is a central part of Belfast for tourists and locals alike. Geraldine told BBC News NI that everything in the city hall should be free for those who live in Northern Ireland, instead of the free tours having to be booked through a councillor."A public building should be available for the public, the people of Northern Ireland and Belfast especially.""It's there for the public to use and even a bonus for the visitors of Belfast", she added. Visiting Belfast from Copenhagen, Henrick thought that £4 "isn't too bad". Fresh from doing the tour, he said it was a "great experience" where you can "read a lot about the history of Belfast and Northern Ireland"."I think you can make tourists pay for it and then the members of the city or community should be free of charge. That's a way you can do it", he added. Sahid Zaman and Zerin Salma weren't as enthusiastic about paying for the tour."It's very good but not worth the money. I think it should be open to all people so they don't need to pay that", Sahid message for councillors was clear: "I think it should be free – keep it as it is". "This is our own history so you shouldn't pay", Zerin added. Fionnuala McCarten and Ted Workman were visiting the city hall to register the birth of their four-week-old daughter Fiadh. Asked if they would pay for the exhibition, Fionnuala said if she was tourist she would but if you live here, "there's no point".Ted agreed: "As someone who lives here I wouldn't pay £4 but maybe as a tourist I actually would because if I was visiting a different country I probably would to go in and check out the history and stuff". Stockport Trefoil members Eva, Ashley and Jean are in Northern Ireland for the Trefoil national meeting in Belfast on Saturday. They popped into the exhibition before heading over to the the Titanic museum. Jean told BBC News NI that in Manchester "a lot of the tours you have to pay but they are free to local residents so maybe that is the way to go".Eva thinks that £4 is a reasonable amount for visitors but said because it was free, it was "more of a tempting offer". She said she felt "rates" that local people pay mean it should be free for them. No date has been set yet for the charges to come into action and the council has already decided they will be reviewed after one year.
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Nama trial: Jamie Bryson says he sent private messages to Sinn Féin's Daithí McKay
The loyalist activist Jamie Bryson has admitted sending private messages to Sinn Féin's Daithí McKay before appearing at a Stormont committee but denied they made a secret Bryson has been on trial for the past three weeks along with two others, including Mr McKay, on charges related to misconduct in public all deny the charges against themThe Crown's case is that Mr McKay and Mr Bryson manipulated how evidence was presented to a Northern Ireland Assembly committee meeting on 23 September 2015. The finance committee was investigating Northern Ireland property loans by the National Asset Management Agency (Nama).The finance committee meeting was chaired by Mr McKay, and the court heard that he and Mr Bryson exchanged a series of direct messages on Twitter in the weeks before the hearing. 'Not bosom buddies' During his appearance at the committee in 2015, Mr Bryson spoke about how Northern Ireland property loans were handled by the National Asset Management Agency, known as Nama. He made an allegation about the then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Peter Robinson, which was later denied and described by the politician as "scurrilous".Giving evidence in the trial for the first time, Mr Bryson told the court: "I made no agreement with Daithí McKay that he would do anything."He added: "We weren't bosom buddies. We'd spent probably the last three or four years kicking lumps out of each other in the media." Asked why he made contact with Mr McKay on Twitter before the committee meeting, Mr Bryson said he had lobbied all of the main parties on the committee before giving insisted he did not want to break any rules by appearing at the committee and claimed that the content of the Twitter exchanges showed this to be the Bryson told the court: "I don't say 'I'm coming along to tell a bunch of lies, help us out?'."The prosecution said Mr Bryson and Mr McKay were involved in an attempt to subvert the rules of the committee, in order to cause "considerable political embarrassment" to a number of people, including Mr Bryson, 35, from Rosepark, in Donaghadee, County Down, denies a charge of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public McKay, 43, from Loughan Road, Dunamanagh, County Tyrone, denies a charge of misconduct in public office. Another man, who was a Sinn Féin member at the time, is also on O'Hara, 41, from Lisnahunshin Road, Cullybackey, County Antrim, faces a charge of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office, which he Crown alleges he, like Mr McKay, was involved in an exchange of messages with Mr Bryson in the run up to the committee Bryson told the court that Mr McKay put him in contact with Mr O' was suggested that Mr O'Hara's role as a Sinn Féin worker meant he operated as a "back channel" to Mr McKay but Mr Bryson rejected said: "I essentially took it as Mr McKay palming me off to a policy worker."Mr Bryson insisted he did "nothing improper" by giving evidence in the way he did to the Stormont committee about trial continues.
The Independent
2 days ago
- The Independent
‘Significant deterioration' in Eleanor Donaldson's medical condition, court told
There has been a deterioration in the medical condition of the wife of former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, a court has been told. A barrister said the court is waiting on an assessment over whether Lady Eleanor Donaldson is fit to stand trial later this year, on charges relating to alleged historical sex offences. The trial had previously been due to start in March, but was delayed due to Eleanor Donaldson's medical condition. Jeffrey Donaldson, 62, who did not attend the hearing at Newry Crown Court on Thursday, has pleaded not guilty to 18 alleged offences. The charges include one count of rape as well as allegations of indecent assault and gross indecency. The charges span a time period between 1985 and 2008, and there are two alleged victims. Eleanor Donaldson, 59, of Dublinhill Road, Dromore, who also did not attend court, is facing charges of aiding and abetting, which she denies. A new trial date has been set for November 3. Reviewing the case, Judge Paul Ramsey said he had been furnished with three separate medical reports in respect of Eleanor Donaldson. Barrister for Eleanor Donaldson Ian Turkington KC said: 'We have put that medical evidence in place and sadly you will see there has been a significant mental deterioration. 'Those aren't my words, those are the words you'll see from the consultant psychiatrist. 'What we don't have is any assessment in relation to her capacity (to stand trial), that is really the next step.' Mr Turkington said an appointment was scheduled with a forensic psychiatrist on July 19. Judge Ramsey said he would review the case again before the end of the legal term on June 26 and again at the start of the next term on August 1. The judge said neither defendant needed to attend court on either date. Prosecuting barrister Fiona O' Kane said she was 'keen to keep hold of the momentum' in the case. She added: 'We have lost a trial date. It is not an inconsiderable amount of time since this case first arrived in the crown court. 'We have five full months now until the trial … we want to make sure the court is kept appraised at every stage.' Jeffrey Donaldson, the long-standing MP for Lagan Valley, was arrested and charged at the end of March last year. He resigned as DUP leader and was suspended from the party after the allegations emerged. Weeks before his arrest, he had led the DUP back into Stormont after a two-year boycott of the powersharing institutions. Previous deputy leader Gavin Robinson was appointed his successor as DUP chief.
