Northern Ireland

Political row over Antrim and Newtownabbey council job cuts plan

Antrim Civic Centre, and inset, how The Irish News reported on the council's planned job cuts
Antrim Civic Centre, and inset, how The Irish News reported on the council's planned job cuts Antrim Civic Centre, and inset, how The Irish News reported on the council's planned job cuts

A POLITICAL row has erupted over which parties backed a council plan that led to proposals to lay off dozens of staff.

Antrim and Newtownabbey council on Tuesday announced plans to make 73 staff redundant due to funding pressures during the coronavirus pandemic.

A decision on 46 of the jobs was yesterday deferred for a fortnight to explore options.

The remaining 27 are understood to be agency workers. The council is asking agencies to furlough them, but they will otherwise be axed.

The redundancy announcement followed an 'emergency financial plan' agreed by councillors in a behind-closed-doors meeting on Monday.

According to minutes released yesterday, the council was asked that it "approves the emergency financial plan and a high-level report on action to be taken be brought to a future meeting of the council".

Representatives for the DUP, UUP, Sinn Féin and Alliance voted in favour, while the SDLP voted against.

In subsequent press statements, Sinn Féin group leader Michael Goodman said his party "expressed our consistent concern and opposition to these proposals within the report from the beginning and will continue to do so".

He also made a 'call-in' request in a bid to have the decision reviewed, but the council said the deadline was missed.

SDLP councillor Ryan Wilson said: "There was never any chance that the SDLP would abandon our council staff during a public health emergency. It's extremely disappointing that other parties chose not to stand with us and instead voted for this damaging package.

"While others have been engaged in political spin to cover themselves, we are continuing to do all we can to support the 73 people who faced unemployment in the middle of this pandemic. They remain our priority."

Sinn Féin councillor Anne Marie Logue, who was voting on behalf of the Sinn Féin group at the meeting, accused Mr Wilson on Twitter of being "inaccurate" and "political point-scoring".

UUP councillor Mark Cosgrove welcomed the deferral of redundancies but warned that without further clarity on funding, the council will have to make tough decisions to "avoid insolvency".

He added that he was "amazed" at Sinn Féin's public statements, adding: "The facts are included on the record in the minutes of the meeting."

The Alliance Party said it had "specifically requested at the meeting that any proposed redundancies be brought back to councillors for consideration, but this did not happen".