Sinn Fein Arts Minister slammed for failing to give a single penny to mark Northern Ireland Centenary

Her scrutiny committee agreed without dissent yesterday to write to her expressing disappointment with her decision, which she did not attempt to defend when contacted by the News Letter.

The DUP’s North Down MLA Stephen Dunne, who is a member of the Department for Communities Committee, said it is “disgraceful” that Minister Deirdre Hargey has admitted allocating zero resource to marking the historical milestone of Northern Ireland’s centenary.

 “Even a complete Philistine would have felt shamed into allocating a few pounds towards the centenary but not this Culture Minister,” he said. “The Centenary year of Northern Ireland in 2021 has been an opportunity to focus on our very rich culture and heritage, our local sports stars who have, and continue to excel on the global stage, our literature, and our entertainment personalities.  All these fit within the remit of the Minister’s Department.

“People from Northern Ireland have excelled across the globe in so many fields over the last hundred years. It is shameful that the Minister has failed to invest a single penny in marking this very important centenary year for Northern Ireland.

“The Minister talks about respecting the traditions in Northern Ireland but evidently these statements are just hollow words.

”Sinn Fein has caused widespread anger among all unionist parties this year by blocking attempts to plant a special rose and erect a small memorial in the grounds of Stormont to mark Northern Ireland’s Centenary.

Mr Dunne said he tabled a question to find out how much the department had allocated to marking NI’s Centenary as he was curious to find out what the answer would be.

”It was obviously very disappointing and disgraceful to see that her department did not devote any funding directly, given the stars of sport, arts and culture, music, entertainment and creative industries that all come from Northern Ireland.”We have such a proud reputation all around the world for punching well above our weight in these things that fit within the minister’s remit.

The MLA said he would like to have seen funding programmes for celebrations, events, literature, performance, scholarships, educational programmes, exhibitions and a whole range of sporting events.

”Obviously Covid was challenging for everyone but we had a relatively restriction free summer period which would have been a great opportunity to see a great deal more done, exhibitions - there could have been a whole host of things.

“Scholarships and outdoor events would not have been threatened by the Covid situation over the summer, he added.

“Where there is a will there is a way and even modest contributions could have been made. But sadly there did not even appear to be a will there to do it which is very disappointing.”

During committee business yesterday Mr Dunne proposed that it write to the minister expressing disappointment over the matter, which was seconded by fellow DUP MLA Paul Frew. ”There was no further debate on it from any other committee members,” he added.

“Nobody came to the minister’s defense at the committee. I was half expecting someone to come to her defense but nobody did. It is disappointing but not overly surprising.”

The Department for Communities was invited to comment on his claims but offered no specific comment. Instead it pointed to the minister’s official answer to Mr Dunne’s question.

”No funding or support has been provided by my Department for the purpose of marking the centenary,” she said. “A £3m fund has been set up by the British Government which includes £1m of funding to be distributed through the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The Northern Ireland Office is in the lead.”

In March Stormont’s unionist leaders criticised a decision not to erect a stone marking NI’s centenary at Parliament Buildings. The DUP, Ulster Unionists and TUV made the request to the assembly commission, which includes MLAs from the five main parties, in January.

They accused Sinn Féin of a “shameful exercise” in vetoing the proposal. Sinn Féin said it opposed the stone as it “reflects only one political perspective”.

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