War over Palestine Christmas collection box at City Hall sparks DUP bid to change Belfast City Council charity rules

The party wants to make sure only charities in the city are chosen to benefit from the box in future, after the SDLP got the council to agree to send Christmas cash to Palestine for the second year in a row.

And the DUP also argue that it’s not fair to ‘pit charities against each other’, as happened when councillors battled over which one of two voluntary bodies would be a worthier recipient of fundraising efforts.

Hoping to spread some seasonal cheer to people in need, every year the council places a collection box at Belfast City Hall, where passing members of the public can drop off a few spare pounds.

It doesn’t raise much, last year’s tally only coming to £250 and the council expecting a similar amount this year.

But a recent committee was split over whether to send the money to a Gaza medical aid organisation for the second year in a row, or give it to the Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice.

As they did last year, the SDLP pushed the Palestinian option, arguing it’s a necessary step in the face of what they described as the ‘ongoing humanitarian crisis’ there, while the DUP wanted the cash to go to the local children’s charity.

Eventually the council backed a Sinn Fein compromise move, which will see whatever money the collection box raises go to Gaza, while the council matches that with an equal donation to the children’s hospice from its own coffers.

Speaking after the meeting, the DUP’s group leader, councillor Sarah Bunting, said she didn’t want to see a repeat of the arguments in the council chamber.

The party wants to get Belfast Council to rewrite its rules over the collection box so that either the money is limited to voluntary groups based in the city, or the charity is chosen directly by the Lord Mayor instead of being put to a wider vote.

“All year, all we’ve been talking about is how much local people are struggling,” she said. “In our view, when we have the chance to help, it wouldn’t be appropriate to send those funds elsewhere.

“We are there to support the ratepayers of Belfast, that’s what we are elected to do

"The Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice does incredible work here, and we wanted to recognise that.

"Many fantastic groups in the voluntary sector miss out on core funding; the collection box is a chance for us to give them something, even if it is only a small amount.”

Stating that the DUP also don’t want to see the money given to the same charity year after year, she added that many councillors are uncomfortable with using the City Hall box to fundraise for politically sensitive issues.

The council has agreed to run the collection box annually, but under current rules doesn’t choose which specific charity will benefit from the money until the Christmas seasons nears.

During the recent hospice versus Gaza debate, councillors from several different parties broadly agreed that pitching different charities then voting on the best option is a bad way of running the collection.