South Belfast festival gets the go ahead despite SDLP claims over marching bands and antisocial behaviour

Earlier this month a request by the Finaghy Festival to hold an event at Wedderburn Park in August was held up after SDLP Balmoral Councillor Donal Lyons successfully proposed a review on whether Belfast City Council should permit the event.

He said the delay was for “comfort and clarification” on the nature of the event, which he said had in recent years had a different description in community advertising than the one it offered when asking the council for permission to use Wedderburn Park.

At the latest meeting of the council’s Strategic Policy and Resources Committee elected members granted permission for the festival, after heated exchanges between the SDLP and DUP.

The event organisers are Finaghy Community Association. The council says the festival in August will involve family entertainment during the day and live music at night. Other activity includes a history exhibition and walk, a seniors tea dance and a food tasting session.

At the Committee Councillor Lyons said: “When it comes to the committee this event is described as a cultural festival, with the same wording practically every year, but when it is advertised in the community we have different advertising.

“In the first year in 2021 it was to mark the Northern Ireland Centenary, in the second year the advertising material in the community was for the Queen’s birthday, and the dates moved to facilitate that particular anniversary.”

Councillor Lyons said he had submitted videos with music being played by marching bands until “late hours” and causing “significant amounts of disruption.”

DUP Councillor Sarah Bunting said: “I don’t know where the bands playing to late hours comes from.

“In the first year there was a complaint from one resident who thought that noise late at night had come from someone leaving the event, which had actually been finished for over an hour.

She said: “The insinuations from Councillor Lyons that this group is potentially sectarian or racist seems to have fed into a decision by an external funder to now not fund the event.

“Everyone has seen the letter submitted from the vice chair of one of the groups that runs it, who was really upset about the insinuations levelled against the group.

She added: “Saying there is a track record of noise and antisocial behaviour complaints – when nobody else seems to have got these except one councillor in the area.

“It has been raised that there might be a little bit of unionist culture on show. It is absolutely very multicultural, but that also has to include unionist culture. There are an awful lot of events where we are told we have to water down unionist culture for the sake of other cultures.

“I certainly never heard Councillor Lyons complain whenever there have been complaints that come from Finaghy about the noise that follows the Féile, and the chanting that is brought up almost yearly from that festival.” She said Councillor Lyons was “petty.”

Councillor Lyons said: “First and foremost I never in any way, shape or form suggested this festival was racist or sectarian. I reject that quite strongly. Anyone who watches the videos I have given to the council, and the commentary I have given on this (would see that is) completely nonsensical.