DUP demands Irish language group is banned from Belfast City Hall over portrait damage

The DUP group at Belfast City Council this week proposed Glór na Móna should be banned from future City Hall events, while one councillor said the damage was “sectarian bigotry and antisemitic”.

Glór na Móna describes itself as “the key Irish language organisation that operates to promote Irish language and related activities in Upper Springfield and the surrounding areas.”

A painting of former DUP Lord Mayor and current peer Lord Wallace Browne was on display inside Belfast City Hall when it was criminally damaged in October 2024, just after an event celebrating Glór na Móna’s 20th anniversary, which was attended by a number of high-profile Sinn Féin members. Police investigated the incident as a hate crime, and a Sinn Féin employee at Stormont later resigned over the incident.

A week ago, Naoise Ó Cuilín, the son of Sinn Féin MLA Carál Ní Chuilín, denied being involved. His solicitors said the allegation that he was “involved in the damage” is “entirely false, baseless, and malicious”.

Also last week, the Public Prosecution Service said “key gaps remained” in available evidence, and confirmed no prosecution was being followed.

The PPS said there was no CCTV coverage available as evidence, and added the Sinn Féin employee’s resignation “contained no admission”.

Mr Ó Cuilín’s name was raised into the public debate by TUV assembly member Timothy Gaston at a meeting of Stormont’s Executive Office committee, when he said to Carál Ní Chuilín her son had been named on social media as being involved in the damage of that portrait.

This week the DUP’s Phillip Brett accused Sinn Féin of “misleading” the assembly over their explanation of the event and actions of the Sinn Féin employee who resigned.

At the December meeting of the full Belfast Council, DUP Councillor Sarah Bunting made the call for the ban on the Irish language group. She said: “We are dealing with something much more serious than high spirits at the end of a function here.

“On October 19, 2024, during an event in this building to mark the 20th anniversary of Glór na Móna, the official portrait of former DUP Lord Mayor and current member of the House of Lords, Lord Browne of Belmont, was removed from the wall, and the glass in its frame was smashed. That portrait is not only of a long serving councillor, a former Lord Mayor and a Crown peer, it was also painted by an artist of Jewish heritage.

“The police treated it seriously, launching a hate crime investigation. Because of the statement at the time from the Sinn Féin First Minister, we know a staff member linked to Sinn Féin subsequently admitted involvement in the incident, resigned from their job and party membership”.

She said decisions on prosecutions are a matter for the PPS, not the council and that the DUP was not attempting “to re-try that case”. However, Ms Bunting said “we are responsible for how this building is used, and for the conditions attached to bookings, and for ensuring every group is treated equally when those conditions are breached.”

She said: “Glór na Móna have publicly stated that the damage to the portrait was completely contrary to the ethos and principles of their organisation, and that they were extremely disappointed that it occurred, following what they viewed as a positive anniversary event. I acknowledge that statement, however, warm words after the fact do not remove the responsibilities that fall on anyone who books City Hall.

“We have since learnt that attempts to obtain a list of attendees at that event from Glór na Móna were unsuccessful. So we have a portrait removed from the wall and damaged, a hate crime investigation, a resignation from a Sinn Féin linked employee, but no attendee list from organisers, and no CCTV footage to support the investigation. This is not acceptable for any booking in this building.”

She said: “Members may recall the Govan Protestant Boys were barred from Belfast City Hall, after being filmed parading through the building, and allegedly playing sectarian tunes in the corridors during an Orange Order dinner. The council found this constituted a breach of City Hall’s terms and conditions. The band and the organising lodge were banned from future bookings.

“If an anniversary dinner, during which a civic portrait was vandalised, after which the organisers cannot provide an attendee list, does not amount to a breach of City Hall booking conditions, then I struggle to see what does.”

She said: “This is not about the Irish language, or about silencing cultural expression, it is about the basic, non-negotiable expectation, that anyone who uses this civic building, whether flute band, a charity, a community group, or an Irish language organisation, abide by the same rules, cooperates fully with any subsequent investigation, and takes responsibility for what happens at their event”,

Sinn Féin Councillor Ryan Murphy said: “My understanding is the Govan Protestant Boys weren’t the organisers of that event that has been referenced, and the organiser wasn’t barred from any future events at Belfast City Hall. But in relation to the incident being brought up, it was a matter for the police to investigate, it was up for the PPS to decide the outcome, that has run its course and they have made their decision.

“Our party cooperated fully within that investigation, it’s unfortunate that people cannot accept the outcome. The outcome is what the outcome is.”

Councillors agreed for a paper to be returned by officials giving further information on the portrait incident and its investigation, as well as facts surrounding the Govan Protestant Boys incident and its consequences.