Boys Brigade in Northern Ireland finalises split with Great Britain and Republic of Ireland with third vote

The meeting took place at Railway Presbyterian Church in Lisburn. There were no dissenting voices.

The organisation in Northern Ireland has held three votes on the matter, beginning with its AGM in September last year, an Extraordinary General Meeting in February, and the 2023 AGM last night in Lisburn.

As the reasons and means of the separation crystalised over the past year, the support for the move in votes was 83%, then 94.4% and finally, this week, 97.3%.

“So it's really kind of done and dusted,” the source said.

The BB in NI said the reasons for the separation were that it was not seeing a proportionate return on the £200,000 it was sending to GB annually, it had no meaningful say in the direction of the wider organisation and that faith seemed to be increasingly marginalised by the organisation in England.

A source close to the AGM vote in Lisburn said: "The vote was 97.3% in favour so there's no split in the organisation in Northern Ireland. It was just a handful of people [against]."

Each local BB group across NI is associated with a church and is known as a company, of which there are some 250 across NI.

“At the Extraordinary General Meeting back in February there was an enormous turnout. Some 220 companies backed the decision to go our own way, which is extraordinary. By contrast at a typical AGM you can sometimes find about 30 people take part.

The BB NI has firmly rejected claims that the split was LGBT issues.

A spokesperson for Boys Brigade (BB) NI told the News Letter this week: "We do not hold a doctrinal position on LGBT issues. That is a matter for every denomination with whom we partner."

It is understood, however, that the organisation in GB and the Republic of Ireland may be moving towards their own positions on the matter.

The UK Boys Brigade offered no comment.