By Ryan Sands
The DUP walked out en masse from Monday’s monthly council meeting after a notice of motion it had tabled on April’s Supreme Court ruling on the legal definition of a woman was deferred. The party also signalled its intent to withdraw from the Equality and Good Relations Reference Group – the body to which it was redirected – “until further notice,” citing its unhappiness with the adoption, earlier in the meeting, of a new bilingual policy for city, town, and village signage.
The motion, brought forward by Jonny Jackson (DUP, Rowallane), called on the council to welcome “the recent Supreme Court ruling” and to resolve to “urgently review all relevant council policies and to make it clear that, if a space or service is designated as women-only across the district, a person who was born male but identifies as a woman does not have a right to use that space or service.” This was deferred under standing order 16.1.6, which relates to matters of local authority policy. It states that a motion shall be referred without discussion to the committee under whose remit the subject matter falls or “to such other committee, working group or forum as the council may determine” for consideration. The chairperson “may, if he/she considers it urgent and necessary to the dispatch of business, allow the motion to be dealt with at the meeting at which it is brought forward.”
Vice chairperson Geraldine Kearns (Sinn Féin, Newry), who chaired Monday’s meeting, told Cllr Jackson that his motion was being deferred to the reference group. The Rowallane councillor responded that it was “really disappointing that this notice of motion is not being heard tonight in the chamber” as “it is highly important.” “It is a Supreme Court ruling in our own land, and it is highly disappointing that we are not having the opportunity to discuss it here tonight,” he continued.
“On that basis, and on the basis of the earlier discussion around the Irish language signs, we, as a DUP group, have had to make a decision to withdraw from the Good Relations Reference Group until further notice. Unfortunately, tonight, when there are other notices of motion being heard above this one, we feel the need that we can’t take part in tonight’s meeting any more. We are withdrawing from tonight’s meeting.”
At this point, the party’s five councillors left the chamber.
There had been testy exchanges earlier in the evening when a recommendation on bilingual signage from the Strategy, Policy and Resources Committee was endorsed by 30 votes to six. The committee had voted to accept the signage policy in principle – it had previously been discussed on 12 separate occasions by the Equality and Good Relations Reference Group – as there is currently no agreed budget in place to erect or upgrade city, town, and village signage.
A subsequent statement issued by the district’s DUP councillors said that they had taken “the regrettable decision to withdraw from the council meeting due to the continued disrespect towards the DUP and those we represent, namely forcing through Irish signage without the consent of unionists and refusing to allow the DUP to debate important issues in full council meetings.” It voiced concerns about “the council installing Irish leading signage in towns where the vast majority of residents do not identify with or use the Irish language,” adding that the party is “willing to discuss how old Irish placenames can be promoted in a fair and balanced manner, so that all traditions are respected and which reflects the delicate balance of community relations in Northern Ireland.”
The councillors stated that they have “stressed that culture and language provisions must be about facilitation rather than imposition” and accused Sinn Féin, the SDLP, and Alliance of “majority rule” and attempting to “systematically impose Irish signage in every town throughout the district, without any regard for the wishes of those communities.” “Given that this reference group is a non-statutory meeting and that, after our best efforts to find consensus, the outcome still results in majority rule, we believe we are wasting our time expressing our concerns via this private forum, and we therefore are withdrawing from it until further notice,” the statement added.
On its Supreme Court ruling motion, the statement reiterated the DUP’s disappointment that it was “not allowed to be discussed in an open council meeting because it was deemed to be ‘controversial’,” whilst “a controversial motion from Sinn Féin, which has nothing to do with this council, regarding Irish Presidential elections being extended to Northern Ireland was allowed to be fully debated during the same full council meeting.”
“This is the disparity shown towards unionists on only one evening and doesn’t even scratch the surface of what our party has had to endure in Newry, Mourne and Down District Council for many years,” it concluded. “The inequality towards unionists is a persistent problem and must end.”
