Main political parties split over where to spend race riots recovery cash

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At a Belfast City Council committee meeting, Sinn Féin and the DUP came up against the SDLP, Greens and Alliance over how an offer of cash from Stormont, meant to deal with the after-effects of the South Belfast riots, would be spent.

The SDLP, Greens and Alliance argued the money should focus on those parts of South Belfast, in the wider University and lower Ormeau areas, that suffered during the disturbances, while Sinn Féin and DUP said the money should be spread across city hot spots.

Early in August, after an anti-immigration group and a much larger anti-racist counter rally converged outside City Hall, numbers from the anti-immigration group broke away from the city centre and moved into South Belfast, where individuals and businesses were attacked. The events followed a mass stabbing in which three children were killed in Southport in England.

Police managed to stop the protestors reaching the Belfast Islamic Centre on University Road but many were allowed to reach Botanic Avenue, Ormeau Road, and the Holyland, where there were violent scenes, businesses damaged and racist chanting.

Later a business on Sandy Row was burnt out in a racially motivated attack, and at least one person was attacked in a racially motivated hate crime in the area. Attacks and rioting continued for a number of nights in the Sandy Row area.

At the recent Belfast Council Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, councillors agreed to apply, on short notice, with an action plan for the £600,000 fund from Stormont, without agreeing specifically on locations and amounts for spending.

Sinn Féin Councillor Ciaran Beattie said: “Why is there a stand alone focus on just one area, and not others? I am not taking away from the issues in the wider university area, but I think it is important and is a stand-alone theme.

“But parts of West Belfast would have a very high concentration of ethnic minority backgrounds. The local primary school in my area in Beechmount has 35 percent of pupils from a minority ethnic background.

“The Iveagh community and St James community have probably the highest concentration of asylum seekers across the North. So why aren’t areas like that seen as standalone, and why are they just bunched into “area-based”?

DUP Councillor Sarah Bunting said: “I have the same concerns Ciaran has raised. – just to single out one area, whenever there are other areas hugely impacted by the issues over the summer.

“We have to make sure whenever this does go out that support is there for the groups who were providing support for the communities whenever the tensions were at their highest. They were out there day and night.”

She said: “By targeting one specific area over the rest, it is almost minimising what they have had to deal with.”

SDLP Councillor Séamas de Faoite said: “I am concerned by some of the conversations in relation to this. We have to be very cognisant of the fact that the particular area that is highlighted around the wider university/lower Ormeau part of the city is where we have the highest concentration in terms of residents from minority ethnic backgrounds.

“It is where we saw a significant amount of the focus of the unrest over the summer, and it is where the victims were primarily targeted. That no doubt will be reflected in terms of police statistics as well as everything else.

“It is where we have seen the highest amount of race related hate crime in the last number of years, and it is a rising number.”

He said: “This specific pot of money from the government is specifically in relation to what happened over the summer. We have to be clear – this is an area of the city that is affected far more than any other area.

“That is not to take away from the challenges in other parts of the city. It is clear theme three (of the council action plan) will work to address that as well. But I think we have a problem in this particular part of inner South Belfast.”

Alliance Councillor Sam Nelson said: “I think we all know why the university and lower Ormeau is in there, some of the most serious incidents have happened there, and I think there is a need to try and target that. No matter what statistics we use to look at ethnic minority populations, the number of hate crimes incidents is going to show through.”

Green Party Councillor Áine Groogan said: “We are saying we need to target where the need is, and it is absolutely right that the Holyland, university and lower Ormeau area is singled out. I absolutely appreciate what other people are saying in terms of other area’s needs – nobody is disputing that – but the other categories are broad enough to cover that.”

“I know some of the schools in my area have over 90 percent newcomers. It is where a lot of the faith centres are based, where the community centres are based, and we have had a whole host of issues over the years. The need does speak for itself.”

While details were not given where the money would be spent exactly at the committee meeting, council officers spoke of “themes” for the fund, as required in the application, and as set out by the council.