Armed Forces Covenant: Last-ditch attempt to stop Belfast measures aiding veterans defeated
A nationalist bid to stop Belfast Council signing up to the Armed Forces Covenant has been defeated, the News Letter understands, after lawyers said it didn’t hold water.
Unionists and nationalists have been warring over the set of pledges providing help for veterans struggling to adjust to civilian life for more than two years – and now it looks like unionists have clinched a final victory.
Back in Spring, the council narrowly decided to sign up to the covenant in a nail-biting series of close ballots that saw one prominent nationalist claim a vote that pushed the issue over the line was “undemocratic”.
The move was then called in, reportedly by Sinn Féin.
The call-in process could have seen the issue sent back to the council for further debates and more votes if City Hall lawyers came to the conclusion that correct procedures hadn’t been followed in signing up to the covenant, or that doing so could have an unfair impact on one side of the community.
The News Letter understands the legal verdict is now in, and the call-in has been declared invalid – paving the way for the council to at last sign up to the covenant, which it’s said could happen in the coming weeks.
Lawyers’ conclusion is due to be noted at a behind closed doors meeting tonight, the public and press barred from seeing a report on the call-in as it contains “information relating to financial or business affairs”.
However the man who brought the Armed Forces Covenant to authorities in Northern Ireland’s capital city, council armed forces champion and DUP politician James Lawlor, said the behind closed doors meeting will be “the final step in the covenant’s journey” – something he said is particularly welcome as annual remembrance commemorations near.
Speaking in advance of the meeting, he told the News Letter: “Councillors will receive a legal opinion on Sinn Féin’s last-ditch attempt to block the covenant through the council’s call-in mechanism.
“That opinion is clear; the call-in has no merit. All the committee is required to do tonight is note the report.
“The chief executive will sign the covenant in the coming weeks, recognising that our armed forces community is very much part of this city.”
Last week, Mr Lawlor was at the Northern Ireland Veterans Awards, where the city council was nominated for a ‘best large employer’ gong.
“The irony was not lost on many,” he said, “but I was pleased to attend on the council’s behalf.
“With the covenant signed, I will be looking at how the council can better engage with our armed forces community across the city.
“As we approach remembrance, we do so with gratitude to all who have served and continue to serve, in Belfast and beyond.
“I want to thank everyone who has supported me in getting the covenant over the line.”
Mr Lawlor has been pushing the council to sign up to it through a series of committees and debates since 2024.
It has often been an uphill struggle, the idea repeatedly falling by a single vote as a nationalist bloc on the council was dead against the covenant while unionist parties plus Alliance supported it, and the Greens abstained citing their anti-war principles.
Representatives of nationalist parties have been contacted.