Sinn Fein bid at ‘deflection tactics’ following Provo funeral falls flat

But the party’s proposal for setting up an independent body to probe these claims of misconduct failed decisively when put to a vote.

The party’s accusations of bullying were described as “vague”, with Sinn Fein refusing to disclose any details of what any of the alleged wrongdoing involved.

And ultimately unionists, Alliance councillors, and Green councillors alike opted to back a DUP motion instead, which encouraged any council workers who felt mistreated to lodge a complaint through the normal council procedures.

The Sinn Fein motion had been the sole item at last night’s specially-convened meeting.

It came after weeks of intense scrutiny of both Sinn Fein’s leadership and Belfast City Council’s internal mechanics, over the funeral of leading IRA man Bobby Storey.

Mr Storey’s gigantic funeral (and particularly the council’s handing of a service for him at Roselawn crematorium) have been in the headlines regularly ever since it took place on June 30.

Councillor Ciaran Beattie (SF, Black Mountain) brought the proposal forward.

He said: “What we’re calling for is an independent commission to be established to deal with some of the complaints that we’ve been receiving, particularly over the last number of months.

“Currently we don’t really have any mechanism to deal with the issues of bullying or harassment – and particularly senior management. Who do they turn to? They just have to suck it up.”

This bullying was said to be emanating from “councillors and political parties” – though none were named.

John Kyle (PUP, Titanic) called it an act of “shameless showboating” based on “unsubstantiated allegations”.

He said there is already a written code of conduct for councillors, and a complaints procedure for staff who feel wronged – with the possibility of involving the local government ombudsman if they are not satisfied.

“Sinn Fein are alleging harassment and bullying by others, and going straight to a public platform, and presenting themselves as the guardians of human rights and the defenders of employees’ rights,” he said.

Party leader Billy Hutchinson (PUP, Court) said: “I just think this is a ruse for another reason. In fact I’ll call it for what it is – it seems to me Sinn Fein want to deflect things away from something else.”

Councillor Brian Kingston (DUP, Court) called the Sinn Fein allegations “rather vague”, and asked councillors to back a statement of his instead.

It stated that harassment claims are “a very serious matter” and that councillors “remind staff of the procedures which exist for reporting any such incident”.

When put to a vote, 31 councillors backed the Kingston motion over the Sinn Fein one, whilst 18 voted against. SDLP councillors abstained.

After the meeting Sinn Fein said: “The rejection of this motion is shameful and lets workers down.”

Also speaking afterwards, councillor Kingston said it is his “suspicion” the SF motion was a bid to detract from the goings-on at Roselawn.

Meanwhile councillor Kyle said that “one would naturally think it must be [about] diverting attention away from themselves over the Bobby Storey funeral... but who can tell for sure?”

The rate offered to whoever leads the inquiry into Belfast City Council’s botched handling of the Bobby Storey funeral could be in the region of £1,500 per day, it has been estimated.

A council source made the claim as it was revealed that the former head of the civil service Sir Malcolm McKibbin turned down the chance to lead the probe himself.

Sir Malcolm said the council had not reached the stage where a payment package was offered to him.

He told the News Letter that he decided against taking on the task because of the time commitments which it would involve.

The source said the council has yet to find someone to lead the probe, but that “you generally find most of these people would be looking for about at least £1,500 per day”. They added: “That’s fact. The council are not offering anything [right now]. They’re basically just actively looking for somebody, and then that’d have to be part of the negotiations in regards to how much it’s going to cost. But that is the going rate.”

The council said only that it would not comment while an independent investigation is pending.

Sinn Fein also did not respond.

READ MORE FROM THIS REPORTER:

News: Second Sinn Fein minister admits using official car to go to Bobby Storey IRA funeral

News: Bobby Storey funeral: Roselawn gathering was ‘a low-key dignified send-off’ says report which absolves council of acting politically

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