ALL three of the loyalist bands which received government money after marching in a tribute to a UVF sectarian killer have paraded their new Arts Council-supplied instruments at the latest tribute to the same gunman.
The bands’ participation in the parade was an unmistakable two-fingered salute to the Arts Council, who told us earlier this year that in the wake of a funding furore they had sought and received from the bands a commitment to uphold good community relations in the future. In taking part in this year's Brian Robinson parade the bands have sent an unmistakable signal about what they think of their Arts Council funders – and what their commitment really is to good relations.
Freeman Memorial Flute Band, Monkstown YCV Flute Band and the Shankill Road Defenders gave a defiant two-fingered salute to the Arts Council on Saturday by blasting out loyalist tunes on their shiny and expensive new flutes and drums in the Brian Robinson Memorial Parade on the Shankill – despite having given a commitment to the arts body to adhere to best good relations practice.
HERE WE GO AGAIN: The three bands underlined took part in the Brian Robinson parade on Saturday in defiance of a commitment they gave to the Arts Council
The parade is a yearly homage to UVF killer Robinson, who shot dead innocent Catholic Paddy McKenna at Ardoyne shops in September 1989. Robinson and the driver of motorcycle on which he was pillion passenger were intercepted on the Crumlin Road by a British army undercover surveillance unit. Robinson was shot twice in the torso and finished off with two shots to the head as he lay incapacitated on the road.
The highly contentious annual tribute parade takes place in the Shankill/Woodvale area and music pumped out by the bands is heard in nearby Ardoyne, where memories of Paddy McKenna’s murder are still vivid and raw.
The Arts Council paid the three bands a total of £30,000 for new instruments, the final payment of the money being made after we informed the Arts Council of the bands’ flagrant breaching of funding conditions.
The Arts Council launched a review of the decision to award funding to the bands after we supplied them with details of the bands’ past record of attending the UVF tribute parade – information which the Arts Council told us the bands left out of their funding application forms.
Despite being armed with knowledge of the bands’ UVF connections and their incomplete application forms, the Arts Council announced that it would go ahead and pay the outstanding amount of funding. This meant that residents of Ardoyne – including family and friends of Paddy McKenna – were again forced to listen on Saturday as the bands blasted out a selection of loyalist tunes across the Crumlin Road – this time with expensive new instruments bought with the Arts Council's £30,000.
Two of the three bands – Monkstown YCV and Freeman Memorial – were among 25 bands listed to play at a parade in July paying tribute to notorious UVF killer Trevor King in the Shankill/Woodvale area. After that parade, red-faced Arts Council chiefs told us in a statement: "To date, the Arts Council has not received any reports or evidence of breaches of good relations commitments on the part of any awardee in relation to the parade in question."
We've asked the Arts Council what they have done since they became aware of the two bands' participation in the Trevor King parade in July. And we also asked what steps they intend to take about the three bands' participation in Saturday's Brian Robinson parade. We are awaiting a reply.
