COUNCILLORS returned to City Hall on Monday night for yet another hybrid council meeting.
 
With a packed agenda, including a motion supporting the striking UCU workers and another to officially declare Belfast as a city of sanctuary for newcomer families, councillors were determined to waste no time in getting down to business.
 
However, despite their best interests, technology had other plans and the meeting was briefly suspended not long after starting as the sound on the webcast cut out.
 
Owing to the fact that this was his first meeting since his appointment as the new Chief Executive of the Council, the meeting began with congratulations being offered to John Walsh, the former City Solicitor who has taken over the post from Suzanne Wylie.
 
Following that, a message of support was offered from People Before Profit’s Fiona Ferguson to the council staff who were recently on strike followed by congratulations to the Belfast Giants on their recent Challenge Cup win from Cllr Michael Long, and the Green Party’s Anthony Flynn congratulating Blu Hydrangea on her recent RuPaul’s Drag Race Vs The World win.

Councillor Fiona Ferguson raised the issue of funding for the Citywide Tribunal Service which offers advice to those appealing decisions in relation to benefit claims. She proposed that the standing orders be suspended and that the council agree to allocate the funding.
 
Chair of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, Cllr Áine Groogan clarified that money was agreed at another committee but there was uncertainty around the business case put forward regarding the amount required and that SP&R would be looking at it again.
 
Alderman Brian Kingston argued that the funding needed to be matched by the Department for Communities, meanwhile Cllrs Michael Long and Donal Lyons spoke in favour of Cllr Ferguson’s proposal which ultimately passed.
 
Subsequently, Cllr Long told council that it is well past the time that we have statues of Mary Anne McCracken and Winifred Carney in City Hall grounds along with a memorial to the Belfast Blitz. The Alliance Party group leader added that we need to see more women included in the statues in the grounds.
 
This was echoed by Sinn Féin Cllr Ciarán Beattie who said that this is a process which started in 2012 and that it is a pity it has taken so long to see the statues installed.

When it came to the minutes of the People and Communities Committee, People Before Profit’s Michael Collins proposed an amendment to call on direct financial assistance from the Department of Finance to distribute at least £1,000 to households hit hardest by the energy crisis.
 
Cllr Collins was informed that as the decision was to go before the SP&R committee, it could not be amended at this stage.
 
The minutes from the City Growth and Regeneration, Licensing, Planning, Climate and City Resilience alongside the Standards and Business Committees were all agreed without discussion or debate.
 
Cllr Brian Heading proposed a motion which called on the Lord Mayor to write to the Vice Chancellors of Queen’s University and Ulster University to call on them to use their influence to solve the long running pay and pensions dispute. 
 
Cllr Heading said that university staff are being asked to accept a 35 per cent cut to their pension despite the reserves being there to cover it. He also informed council that QUB have yet to implement the living wage and points out the profit they make from international students.

Sinn Féin Councillor, Caoimhín McCann told the chamber that no one should have to go to the picket line to get what is due to them. Speaking as a recent grad of QUB, he said that our universities are not short of cash and described the response from them as “insufficient”.
 
Speaking on this motion, Cllr Fiona Ferguson said that she has had the privilege of joining staff on the picket lines and that they have been a beacon for what workers can do in terms of fighting back.
 
Cllr Ferguson described Phd students as "overworked and underpaid" and said that the council should reconsider their relationships with the universities until the pay and pension issues are sorted.
 
Summing up, Cllr Heading thanked councillors for their support and said that the universities have a social responsibility to maintain their staff. He added that we should expect the highest standards from them in how they treat staff from the highest level to those who open the gates.
 
The motion was then passed. 

The final debate of the evening came when Cllr John Kyle proposed that Belfast become a ‘City of Sanctuary’ for those seeking refugee and asylum seeker status.  
 
Seconding the motion, Alliance Councillor Ross McMullan said that this has been many years in the making. He congratulated the Belfast City of Sanctuary committee for their work and said it has taken on more importance as Ukrainian refugees arrive in the city.
 
Discussing the arrival of Ukrainian refugees, SDLP Cllr Donal Lyons pointed to the Scottish and Welsh governments who have become ‘super sponsors’ for Ukrainian refugees and said that in the North of Ireland, we have agreed to take approximately 500 refugees while in the South, they have taken 17,000.
 
Cllr Geraldine McAteer added that her party welcomed and supported the motion. She paid tribute to the groups who have helped newcomer families settle into communities and pointed to the significant challenges they face including that refugees and asylum seekers aren't allowed to work while here.
 
Detailing a conversation that she had had with a member of staff at the Conway Education Centre, Cllr McAteer said that it is incredibly difficult for asylum seekers and that they are having to live in hotel rooms for months on end. She informed council that the centre is currently helping 135 children living in hotels.
 
Cllr Ferguson thanked the proposers and pointed to Palestinians who are still living in camps having been displaced during Nakba in 1948. 
 
Lord Mayor Kate Nicholl finished by congratulating the Belfast City of Sanctuary Committee for their work in assisting newcomers settle in when they arrive in the city. She pointed to issues with racism and structural issues that can still impact on newcomer families.