Northern Ireland

LGBT councillors seek clarity from Belfast Pride before backing EuroPride bid

The Belfast Pride parade in the city centre in 2018. Picture by Justin Kernoghan
The Belfast Pride parade in the city centre in 2018. Picture by Justin Kernoghan The Belfast Pride parade in the city centre in 2018. Picture by Justin Kernoghan

LGBT councillors say communication concerns with Belfast Pride should be addressed before the city council formally backs a bid to host EuroPride in 2023.

Belfast has been shortlisted alongside Malta and Rotterdam in the Netherlands to stage the annual event, the biggest LGBT festival in Europe.

A formal bid was submitted in the summer and a presentation will be made next month before a final decision.

Belfast City Council last year agreed to work with Belfast Pride to offer support, but concerns have been expressed over "limited engagement" from the organisation.

Seán Ó Néill, chair of Belfast Pride, joined a virtual committee meeting on Wednesday to discuss the matters.

The Green Party's Mal O'Hara and the SDLP's Séamas de Faoite asked questions about the bid and the organisation's formal status.

Mr O'Hara said it was "disappointing" discussions had not happened last year "so that we could have leveraged the expertise, capacity and resource of this council into making the EuroPride bid as strong as possible".

Mr Ó Néill said Belfast Pride is currently an unincorporated charitable association.

He said they have been "pro-actively" addressing issues raised, including plans to set up a Pride Community Advisory Board to improve communication.

"We want the bid to be more than just about bringing a major event. We want it to build community capacity for the LGBT community, we want it to be an opportunity to overcome the developmental barriers that Belfast Pride has faced, and we want to show off Belfast on the European-wide stage," he said.

Sinn Féin's Ciaran Beattie expressed surprise at Belfast Pride facing "cross-examination". He said EuroPride would be a "valuable asset" and "not something we should be trying to put barriers in front of".

However, Mr de Faoite said he wanted to hold organisations "that represent my identity and my community to the same level of scrutiny" as any other group.

Councillors agreed for the council to corporately back the EuroPride bid, subject to due diligence from officials and some additional queries from councillors being addressed.

In a joint statement afterwards, Mr de Faoite, Mr O'Hara and Green Party councillor Anthony Flynn said: "As 'out' elected representatives we would be delighted to see EuroPride 2023 come to Belfast."

They said some questions remained, such as Belfast Pride's "constitution, accounts and organisational capacity".

But they said the committee agreed that "providing Belfast Pride can address all of the outstanding issues and concerns, Belfast City Council will support the EuroPride 2023 bid".