Council tight-lipped on all-Ireland Fleadh budget issues: 'Emerging challenges' with massive event, states senior official, though City Hall won't say what they are
Belfast Council is staying tight-lipped on looming budget issues with the all-Ireland Fleadh, insisting its cash pot “remains adaptable” despite the words of one of its senior officials.
According to the minutes of a behind-closed-doors meeting that involved the heads of political parties on the city authority, the council’s director of finance, Trevor Wallace, has “outlined the emerging budgeting and resources challenges in relation to” this summer’s all-Ireland Fleadh in Belfast.
The minutes don’t make clear what those budget and resource challenges are – and when questioned by the News Letter, city hall didn’t clarify them either.
When asked, the council didn’t even detail what the Fleadh’s budget is, much less how the “emerging challenges” referred to by its own finance director will impact it.
The minutes of the meeting add Mr Wallace also outlined “income strands that would contribute to offsetting some of” the challenges he’d brought up.
Questioned by the News Letter, the council wouldn’t confirm whether or not the challenges he mentioned would result in a budget overspend, nor answer how much of any overspend might be offset by those “income strands”.
The meeting in which budget issues were mentioned took place just five days after it was announced Belfast will also host the huge Fleadh next year, the first time anywhere in Northern Ireland is to stage it twice in a row.
The local authority has suggested sealing the heart of the city off to traffic for the duration of this summer’s event, locking it as pedestrian-only from August 2 to 9. The behind-closed-door meeting’s minutes state officials are in talks with Translink about running extra public transport, including night buses, during the Fleadh; the spokeswoman didn’t answer a direct question on whether or not council money would be used to pay for those buses.
According to the spokeswoman, the council regards the money it’s spending on the Fleadh as “an investment in the city itself” with “long-term benefits for the local economy”, though she added it is “actively seeking additional investment” for the festival.
She told the News Letter: “The budget for the event, across both years, remains adaptable to the requirements of hosting such a major event for the first time, with preparations ongoing to plan for, and respond to, the operational demands of staging an event of this size and scale in our city.
“We continue to work closely with a range of city partners and authorities to deliver a Fleadh which is safe, vibrant and showcases our city at its very best. This includes considering the most cost-effective and flexible ways to manage a diverse array of logistical considerations, from accommodation provision and traffic management to waste collection and street cleansing, and continuing to plan ahead for where additional capacity and resources may be required.”
Talks continue with Translink to arrange “a comprehensive traffic and travel plan” for the Fleadh, she stated, further details of which will be unveiled in the coming weeks.
The behind-closed-doors meeting’s minutes are to be discussed at a council committee on Friday. The same committee is due to get a report providing an update on the Fleadh’s progress; that report is also to be kept behind closed doors.