Belfast councillors unite to condemn masked UDA display at Roselawn as investigation begins

Roselawn cemetery is at the centre of another paramilitary funeral row, following reports of masked UDA members flanking a coffin at the Belfast City Council facility.

Both the PSNI and the city council have said they are investigating the incident that is understood to have occurred at the funeral of Tigers Bay man Andrew ‘Andy’ Best on April 23.

The three men were photographed standing alongside the coffin, with their faces masked and wearing berets, gloves and dark glasses.

The council was embroiled in a previous row over the actions of paramilitary organisations, when republicans were permitted to seal off the crematorium site to facilitate the funeral of former IRA leader Bobby Storey.

In June 2020, during the Covid-19 lockdown, families were unable to attend cremations and council chiefs due to the Storey funeral, and council chiefs later apologised for an “error of judgement” – describing those events as “unacceptable”.

According to the Belfast Telegraph report on Friday, 58-year-old Best was cremated at Roselawn following a funeral service at his Limestone Road home – where six masked men in paramilitary uniforms carried his coffin, and floral tributes included one from the ‘Officers and members of the North Belfast UDA’.

In a joint statement on Friday afternoon, the party group leaders on Belfast City Council said: “At this morning’s meeting of the council’s Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, elected members from across political parties expressed their condemnation of the reported events at a cremation service at Roselawn Crematorium on Tuesday 23 April, as featured in the media.

“They were updated that a council investigation is now underway into the circumstances around this service and that officers are liaising with the PSNI."

The leaders’s statement added: “A report will be brought back to elected members in due course. It would be inappropriate to comment further while this investigation is ongoing.”

The PSNI also said they are aware of images “depicting what appear to be masked men at a funeral... on April 23”.

A PSNI spokesperson added: "An investigation into the images will now take place”