BEFORE the hustle and bustle of debate and fallout that is the monthly meeting of Belfast City Council, March’s meeting began with reflecting on events at home and abroad.

With Lord Mayor Kate Nicholl absent in the chair due to illness, it was over to DUP Deputy Lord Mayor, Tom Haire to chair proceedings on Tuesday night.

First up were tributes from across the political spectrum to DUP MLA Christopher Stalford who passed away suddenly last month.

TRIBUTES: Christopher Stalford MLA
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TRIBUTES: Christopher Stalford MLA

Mr Stalford began his political career in Belfast City Council, first elected in 2005 and served nine years as a councillor.

Each tribute was poignant and appropriate from all parties but none more so than from DUP councillors Tracy Kelly and Sarah Bunting, both of whom worked and knew Christopher as a colleague in his Sandy Row constituency office and as a friend. Both gave tearful and heartfelt tributes which they said they hoped would go some way to comfort Christopher’s family at this sad time.

Next up was the ongoing crisis in Ukraine following the invasion by Russia last week. Sinn Féin councillor Caoimhin McCann led comments from all parties in sending solidarity to the people of Ukraine and urged Council to write a letter of support to the British and Irish ambassadors to Ukraine.

SDLP councillor Cllr Séamas de Faoite called out the UK government for their policy on refugees fleeing the war.

People Before Profit Councillor Matt Collins said Putin's actions need to be opposed and condemned, but he also hit out at the expansion of Nato for contributing to the tensions in the region.

Ulster Unionist councillor Jim Rodgers proposed the Council call on the people of the North to donate all they can to the people under attack in Ukraine and the refugees. Deputy Lord Mayor Tom Haire said he would get the Council to send out a media statement urging citizens to donate.

The DUP's David Brooks criticised Cllr Collins' comments on Nato and branded Putin "the new Hitler", who simply invaded Ukraine "because he wanted to".

After a delay due to a restricted item on bonfires, it was on to further items in the minutes of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee.

Next was the issue of a proposal for new city centre by-laws. PBP Cllr Michael Collins argued they were going too far in restricting people’s right of expression as well as banning amplification devices which could impact protesters, street performers and peoples' right to free speech. He called on the issue to be brought back to Committee.

New UUP councillor John Kyle said hate speech in the city centre must be addressed but the proposed by-laws to tackle this problem could risk penalising innocent people.

Cllr McCullough said the council is danger of acting like the "hate police" and he agreed with Cllr Kyle that there are laws in place to deal with hate speech. He added that the Council can't target a specific group while ignoring others.

Green Party Cllr Áine Groogan said the new by-law proposals were not set in stone yet and are at an early stage but said we must take action now to stop hate speech in the city centre.

DUP Ald Brian Kingston accused some councillors of using the issue to disagree with speeches they don’t like and said the DUP would support bringing it back to Committee.

SDLP Cllr Séamas de Faoite said he had personal experience of hate in the city centre which still goes “unchallenged” as the issue is bounced between Committee and Full Council. A vote to refer the issue back to Committee was defeated by 32 votes to 16.

Next up, Sinn Féin Councillor Ronan McLaughlin raised concerns over a DUP proposal to mark Bloody Friday ahead of its 50th anniversary in July. Instead of an event to mark the event, he urged councillors to support one day in the year to mark all anniversaries and commemorations during the conflict and remember all victims and survivors.

DUP Cllr Dale Pankhurst said that Bloody Friday deserved a stand-alone event to mark the atrocities of the day and said Sinn Féin’s amendment “waters down” his original motion. After a vote, both the Bloody Friday motion and Sinn Féin amendment was defeated in a close vote of 27 votes to 23.

On to the People and Communities Committee minutes and Ald Brian Kingston raised concerns over a request of the use of Belfast City Council parks for events.

In particular, he cited the annual Wolfe Tones concert at Féile an Phobail in the Falls Park, which he described as “performers leading young people in chants and song in support of a terrorist organisation, who were responsible for Bloody Friday”.

The annual Wolfe Tones concert in the Falls Park
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The annual Wolfe Tones concert in the Falls Park

Ald Kingston said he wanted to remind Council of its good relations policy. Sinn Féin councillor Matt Garrett said it was wrong to single out one event and said scrutiny from Council in dealing with requests for events in parks had to be across the board.

In the Licensing Committee minutes, Sinn Féin’s Arder Carson raised a request by Movie House Cinemas regarding the 15 certification for the new Batman film to reduce it to 15A which would allow children under 15-years-old to watch the film while accompanied by an adult.

Cllr Carson joked that he got a phone call from the “Mayor of Gotham City” telling councillors to sort the issue out. He said Council had the authority to do it and fellow councillors agreed, much to the relief of everyone in Gotham City.

On to the motions of the night and Cllr John Kyle proposed one, calling on Council to commend and recognise the extraordinary efforts of the Samaritans during the period of Covid-19 and beyond. He praised the ability of the volunteers to react quickly and effectively during the pandemic and to continue to offer support to anyone who needs a listening ear day or night, 365 days a year to be commended.

The motion was greeted by widespread support from all parties and the motion was agreed unanimously.

Finally was a motion by PBP Cllr Matt Collins, noting with concern that the childcare service at Mountainview Centre in West Belfast is due to close in the coming weeks.

CLOSURE CONCERNS: Mountainview Centre in Turf Lodge
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CLOSURE CONCERNS: Mountainview Centre in Turf Lodge

He said it followed a recent announcement by the Ardmonagh Family Centre, also based on the Upper Springfield Road, that it too, is reluctantly having to terminate its services as well as proposed cuts to Irish medium services in nearby Glór na Móna.

Sinn Féin then tabled an amendment to the motion, adding a call for the Council to engage with St Vincent de Paul to see what help they need with running such centres, which was agreed.

Council will now convene an urgent cross-party meeting, reaching out to both the Education and Communities Ministers and their officials, as well as Council officers, Education Authority and staff of the Mountainview Centre, in order to explore the possibility of keeping the doors of this invaluable service open.