FIVE groups are to share in £500,000 of ratepayers' cash from a divisive 'bonfire diversion' scheme.
Half will be divided among four groups for events ahead of the Eleventh Night, while the other half will go to Féile an Phobail (West Belfast Festival) for August events.
Concerns were raised in January when Belfast City Council set aside £500,000 for the 'area-based festivals fund', which gives money to groups for 'bonfire diversion'.
The DUP and Sinn Féin backed the scheme, but political opponents had branded it a "carve-up" between the two parties.
When the scheme first surfaced last year, concerns were raised about secrecy over how groups were chosen, how the funding has been used – and whether it undermines the council's main programme on tackling bonfire issues.
The allocation of the £500,000 among specific groups and projects was agreed yesterday at a council committee meeting, and will go to full council for formal approval.
The July funding was given to Twaddell and Woodvale Residents Association (£84,386) for Woodvale Festival 2019; Hubb Community Resource Centre (£44,000) for Shorefest; Greater Village Regeneration Trust (£37,229) for "diversionary events"; and EastSide Partnership (£84,386) for Eastival.
The funded events are set to take place between the start of June and July 11.
All of the £250,000 for the August programme was awarded to Féile for three projects – a "diversionary dance night" (£100,000); a "south and east diversionary intervention programme" (£50,000); and a "north Belfast summer diversionary intervention programme" (£50,000).
Funding applications were assessed by council officials before a list of projects was presented to councillors for consideration.
The funding scheme will include "monitoring and evaluation procedures" and a council official working with the successful applicants to support the delivery of the projects, according to the council report.
Alliance councillor Emmet McDonough-Brown said his party yesterday proposed funding only the two projects that scored highest in the assessment process, but this failed to gain the support of most councillors.
In January, Alliance had unsuccessfully proposed dropping the scheme and instead having the saving passed on to ratepayers.
"£500,000 is a substantial sum of money for the city, particularly in the aftermath of the Primark fire," Mr McDonough-Brown said.
"We feel that this money could be better spent in a more strategic way."
In January, a political row erupted after some Sinn Féin councillors declared that Féile would would receive money from the scheme – before any application process had even begun.
Within minutes of the funding being agreed, two councillors were describing it online as "funding for the Féile West Belfast Festival".
However, Sinn Féin councillor Ciaran Beattie insisted the scheme was "totally transparent" and "open to all groups who can make a difference to diffuse tension in the July and August period".
