Epstein files: DUP has 'serious concerns' about George Mitchell links - but stops short of explicitly calling for honour to be revoked
The DUP has said that “there are serious concerns" about the alleged connections between George Mitchell and Jeffrey Epstein.
However, its group leader on the council did not explicitly endorse a call, made by others, to revoke the Freedom of Belfast which was granted to Mr Mitchell in 2018 (and Bill Clinton at the same time).
The Alliance Party (which has 11 of the 60 council seats), and reportedly the Green Party too (three seats), are calling for the revocation.
The SDLP meanwhile (five seats) has indicated that the issue should be “reviewed”.
At the start of the week, Queen’s University Belfast had stripped Mr Mitchell’s name from its Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice and removed a large metal bust of him from outside the university (as well as having been US special envoy to Northern Ireland at the time of the Good Friday Agreement, Mr Mitchell went on to be chancellor of Queen’s from 1999 to 2009).
The university said it was “no longer appropriate" to have his image or name on campus, though it also acknowledged there had been “no findings of wrongdoing by Senator Mitchell”, who is now aged 92.
Alliance leader on Belfast City Council Michael Long said: “While no wrongdoing has been found regarding Senator Mitchell, given the recent developments and ongoing revelations, the Alliance Party believes it is no longer appropriate to award him the Freedom of the City.
“Our deepest sympathies are with the victims and survivors of abuse, and their experiences must remain central to all decision-making.
“As a democratic institution representing the people of Belfast, we must ensure that those who receive the highest civic honour on behalf of our city embody and reflect the values of our community.
“I will raise this with council officials to ensure appropriate steps are taken.”
DUP group leader Sarah Bunting (14 seats) said in a statement: “Matters relating to civic awards are for council to consider through its democratic processes and with all relevant information before members.
"It would not be appropriate for any member of council to pre-empt or speculate on any potential decisions, but clearly there are serious concerns in relation to links between Senator Mitchell and Jeffrey Epstein, and the expectations of the people of Belfast as to recipients of this highest civic honour should be to the fore in any decision.”
UUP councillor Jim Rodgers, the longest-serving member of the council, did not want to be drawn on the issue of any revocation.
He had met Mr Mitchell before, and would say only that he had found him to be an “open and honest person”.
The SDLP has said in a statement: “The SDLP has been clear that given the serious allegations surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and the continued association of a number of high-profile figures with him, both before and after his conviction, it is right that honours and tributes are reviewed.
"That principle applies to George Mitchell, Bill Clinton and anyone else where legitimate concerns are raised. Each case should be considered on its own merits, with all relevant information taken into account.
"Our thoughts are with the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and his associates.”
The TUV (which has one councillor) told the News Letter: “TUV have never been on the George Mitchell bandwagon.
"Mitchell's legacy is that of a defeated terrorist organisation permitted to transform itself into a party of government thanks to a fundamentally anti-democratic system. In order to get to that point, the victims of 30 years of terror were discarded.
"That was never something to be celebrated.
"Now that the Epstein links have been exposed it is understandable those who once praised him would want to divorce themselves from his disgrace.
"Thankfully, TUV does not have any record to whitewash when it comes to this issue."
It is not clear what the position is of Sinn Fein (the largest bloc on the council); enquiries have been made.
It all follows the release of the latest tranche of documents held by the US government about dead financier Jeffrey Epstein, who had a child prostitution conviction from 2008.
Mr Mitchell’s name appears in the newly-released files, with e-mails dating from after his 2008 conviction – apparently from Epstein’s office staff – purporting to show some kind of contact.
There is a Google calendar entry of a meeting with Mr Mitchell, and e-mail chatter about the possibility of setting a meeting up between the two men, though there is no confirmation any such meeting was ever agreed to.
One file consists of an e-mail message saying that Mr Mitchell had returned a phone call – though it is not clear if this was a call to Epstein directly or to his office staff, nor what the reason for Mr Mitchell allegedly returning the call was.
A spokesperson for Mr Mitchell said that he had “declined or deflected the few invitations to events extended by Epstein's office in the years that followed” his conviction, the BBC has reported.
It has also quoted the spokesman as saying that Mr Mitchell has never met nor spoken with Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, who alleged she had been “instructed” to have sex with him and other men, suggesting that it is a case of mistaken identity.
Virginia Giuffre’s accusation first surfaced in 2019, and Mr Mitchell has never faced any charges in relation to it in the years since.