BELFAST City Council has passed a motion of no confidence in Education Minister Paul Givan despite an earlier walkout over the issue.
It followed a discussion during Monday's monthly meeting on the controversial incident at the ICC in Belfast last week when a UNISON conference was abandoned after objection to a message on the screen regarding the genocide in Palestine.
Sinn Féin councillor Caoimhín McCann stood in the chamber to express the "anger" felt across the city at Mr Givan's recent trip to Israel. Councillor McCann was then stopped by Lord Mayor Tracy Kelly who said the issue was not in the minutes and tried to move the meeting on.
Sinn Féin group leader Ciarán Beattie said the issue was related to Palestine before councillors from Sinn Féin, SDLP, Green Party and People Before Profit left the Chamber. Some Sinn Féin councillors suddenly resumed their seats during a vote on whether to pause proceedings for a short adjournment.
The DUP opposed the break but with the help of the returning Sinn Féin councillors, the proposal was passed by 19 votes to 15. Twenty minutes later, the meeting resumed.
Councillor McCann later successfully raised a proposal relating to the Education Minister under a committee minute.
His motion stated that Council would write to the Department of Education, ask them to remove material posted on the Minister's trip to Occupied Territories in Palestine and declare Belfast City Council's no confidence in the Minister and write to him to inform him of the Council's position.
People Before Profit councillor Michael Collins described Mr Givan’s actions as “deplorable” and said that the visit was “basically a propaganda trip”.
“He stood smiling in photographs with Israeli officials while just a few miles away Gaza is in ruins. He visited a school which is built on an illegal settlement in Jerusalem, where Palestinians were forced from their land and were denied the right to return,” he said.
“He has evoked the outrage of teachers, classroom assistants and children right across the education system.”
DUP councillor Sarah Bunting said her party colleague undertook “an educational visit, including a school in Jerusalem, and his department publicised it, with no attached political messaging”.
“You may disagree with the optics, or the timing, but disagreement is not misconduct,” she said. “There is no evidence of any breach of the Ministerial Code, any misuse of public funds or dereliction of duty in his portfolio.”
She said the proposal by Sinn Féin was “symbolic only and does not remove the minister” and “wasted time” in the council chamber.
Following a vote, Councillor McCann's motion was passed with 40 votes for and 15 against.
