MORE than £100,000 of ratepayers' cash has been spent on installation dinners for Belfast lord mayors in the past five years.
It emerges as the city council confirms there are no plans to hold the event for this year's civic leader, DUP councillor Frank McCoubrey, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The new lord mayor's installation dinner is usually held at city hall annually around September, with hundreds of selected guests attending the formal occasion.
A total of £103,610.85 has been spent on the gala dinners since 2015, figures obtained by The Irish News show.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald and DUP leader Arlene Foster have been among the guests over the years, as well as church leaders and figures from community groups, public sector organisations and the media.
The most expensive over the period was Sinn Féin councillor Arder Carson's event in 2015, which cost £26,549.95 and had 766 guests.
DUP councillor Brian Kingston's event cost £15,053.41 in 2016, Alliance councillor Nuala McAllister's cost £17,523 in 2017, and the event for Sinn Féin's Deirdre Hargey cost £22,042.44 in 2018.
Last year's mayoral installation dinner for Sinn Féin's John Finucane, who has since become MP for North Belfast, cost £22,442.05.
This included £12,850 on food, £2,050 on entertainment, £240 on plants, £864 on flowers, £3,650 on audio-visual and lighting, £225 on photography, £200 on an MC and £100 on first aid.
The £2,128.05 alcohol bill included £854 spent on white wine, £728 on red wine, £184.45 on Harp, £201.60 on Coors Light, and £160 on Hop House.
Lord mayors in Northern Ireland's councils are civic positions which are rotated annually between councillors in the main political parties depending on the number of council seats they hold.
The spending figures were obtained through a Freedom of Information request.
Duncan Simpson from public spending lobby group the TaxPayers' Alliance hit out at the costs.
He said that "this kind of largesse will further demonstrate to ratepayers how cavalier councillors can be with their cash".
"If such events really must go ahead in the future, then these banquets should be funded via sponsorship, rather than by hard-working ratepayers," he added.
Belfast City Council said no installation dinner was held for Sinn Féin councillor Daniel Baker, who took on the role of lord mayor in December after Mr Finucane stepped down following his election as MP.
"As is normal during all lord mayors' terms of office, Councillor Baker hosted a number of engagements and events during his time in office," a spokesman said.
He added: "Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, at this stage there are no plans to hold an installation dinner for the current Lord Mayor Alderman Frank McCoubrey."
