Northern Ireland

Funding for Belfast groups agreed in £500,000 bonfire scheme

A bonfire last year at Cluan Place in east Belfast. Picture by Mal McCann
A bonfire last year at Cluan Place in east Belfast. Picture by Mal McCann A bonfire last year at Cluan Place in east Belfast. Picture by Mal McCann

COUNCILLORS have approved splitting a divisive £500,000 'bonfire diversion' fund between several groups in Belfast.

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 'community festivals fund', which gives money to groups for 'bonfire diversion'.

The DUP and Sinn Féin backed the scheme, but some political opponents had branded it a "carve-up" between the two parties.

A majority of councillors formally approved the proposed projects during last night's full council meeting at city hall.

It is the second year of the programme, which in 2018 awarded £400,000 to groups in a bid to reduce tensions around July and August bonfires.

When the scheme was discussed last May at a council committee, the press were told to leave the room. Information only emerged after being leaked to the media.

A more detailed spending breakdown was recently disclosed to The Irish News in a Freedom of Information (FOI) response, and reported in yesterday's paper.

It shows that some projects funded last year were only held in December – and some did not proceed at all.

Twaddell and Woodvale Residents Association received £100,000 for a festival in July. Its costs included £64,750 on a performer line-up which included Heather Small and Basshunter.

Others funded included Féile which received £100,000 for a free dance night in August, comprising of artist costs (£96,000) and event production (£4,000).

The Market Development Association's spending included "diversionary activities" (£6,985), with events taking place in July, August, October, November and December.

Belfast council has since clarified that £80,000 for a project "still being delivered" was awarded to the Ulster-Scots Community Network, rather than the Ulster-Scots Agency as claimed in the FOI response. The agency provides the Ulster-Scots Community Network with core funding for staff and overheads.

Northern Ireland Alternatives was allocated £50,000 but the council said the project "did not proceed and no funding was awarded".

The council declined to release further information, saying it would "damage our relationships with local community organisations, the local community generally, and would inhibit our ability to effectively conduct public affairs".

The council was also asked for a copy of any evaluation reports, but it said it holds no such information.

Applications for 2019's scheme were assessed by officials before a list of projects was presented to councillors.

The scheme will include "monitoring and evaluation procedures", according to the council report.

SDLP councillor Dónal Lyons claimed last year's programme was a "huge amount of public money spent with little explanation" that "ran a horse and cart through the council's existing bonfire management scheme", and he called for a "robust" evaluation.

Sinn Féin and the DUP have strongly defended the scheme.

Sinn Féin councillor Ciaran Beattie has previously insisted the 2018 scheme meant "destructive and illegal bonfires did not take place in nationalist areas".

DUP councillor Lee Reynolds last year said the funding was to "deliver a positive summer for our city and improve the lives of young people".