A row erupted in a Co Down council over the labelling of the Columban Way trail as "religious".
A DUP member of Ards and North Down Borough Council has said it is "absurd" to claim the Europe-wide walking route as non-religious.
Saint Columbanus was an Irish missionary noted for founding a number of monasteries in France and Italy. He was born in Leinster in 543 AD, first educated on an island on the River Erne in Fermanagh, then moved to Bangor Abbey in Co Down where he studied to become a teacher of the Bible before going on to travel Europe.
A 20-mile section for the Columban Way Heritage Trail was launched in Comber, Co Down in October 2021, the first in Northern Ireland.
Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, it takes in locations including Comber Town, the Somme Museum, the Lead Mines, Whitespots and Clandeboye Estate.
The Columban Way forms part of the wider European 'Via Columbani' heritage trail, tracing the footsteps of St Columbanus across Europe, finishing in Bobbio, Italy.
In April this year, the Friends of Columbanus, Bangor, made a request for Ards and North Down Council to sign up to the new 'Columban Charter of Partnership' pledging support for the historical trail.
A council report was commissioned looking at the “religious aspect” of the request. The report came in the wider context of a debate about the council supporting or funding religious organisations, as well as the definition of “religious” organisations.
Elected members had at the same time decided to allow local Orange lodges to apply for funding despite being against its own policy and the recommendations of its officers. Some unionist councillors had stated that Orange organisations were not religious, and should receive funding from the council.
However, regarding funding for the newly formed Ards and North Down Events and Festivals Fund, council officers stated that applications should not be accepted from “any event/festival that is perceived to support or promote any religious or political dimension".
In this context, the Friends of Columbanus, Bangor, stated their organisation and the still-developing walking trail was not non-religious.
The council report states: “The Friends of Columbanus, Bangor, have confirmed that the group is not a religious organisation. It is a cross-community, inclusive, charitable organisation that was formed in 2013 to commemorate the 1400th anniversary of Columbanus.”
It continued: “Friends of Columbanus have confirmed the primary objective of the Columban Charter is to help support and promote pilgrimage, cultural and scientific activities relating to Columbanus and his followers.
“The concept of “pilgrimage” may have been misunderstood. It may have historically been a purely religious activity, but the modern understanding is much broader and includes travelling on a wide variety of routes pursuing many types of cultural and environmental interests, often associated with personal development and well-being."
DUP Alderman Stephen McIlveen said: “I am not particularly convinced by the contents of the report in terms of the religious aspect.”
“My question isn’t to do with whether the organisation is religious but whether there was any religious aspect to Saint Columbanus. And I think any sane, logical person will realise Saint Columbanus is a religious figure.”
DUP councillor Colin Kennedy said: “The truth of this is there is so much cognitive dissonance employed in the crafting of this report, it almost renders the whole thing absurd. At the end of the day, Columbanus should be celebrated for who and what he was, and that was a religious person.
He added: "Let’s not twist words and meanings and try to argue that Columbanus was not a religious figure.”
Despite the disagreement, the council agreed to sign up to the Columban Charter of Partnership.
