Parties at Belfast City Hall are split over where to focus a £600,000 fund addressing the August race riots
Sinn Féin and the DUP came up against the SDLP, Greens and Alliance over how an offer from Stormont of a community recovery fund, meant to deal with the after-effects of the riots and hate crimes in south Belfast, would be spent.
Sinn Féin and DUP said the money should be spread across the city, while the other parties wish to use it for south Belfast.
The disorder began in August following an anti-immigration rally, and businesses were targeted in areas including Sandy Row.
At the recent Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, councillors agreed to apply for the £600,000 fund from Stormont, without agreeing specifically on locations and amounts for spending.
Sinn Féin councillor Ciaran Beattie, said: “I am not taking away from the issues in the wider university area...but parts of west Belfast would have a very high concentration of ethnic minority backgrounds.”
DUP councillor Sarah Bunting, said: “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 added: “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 the wider university/lower Ormeau part of the city “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”.
A council officer told the committee: “The £600,000 is to work across four core themes: the first is immediate action to safeguard life and property, but part of that category is that businesses weren’t to be included.
“Another is to prevent suffering and severe inconvenience – that is for people who had to leave their home for more than a 48 hour period. It is very limited within the scope of that criteria for us to do much.
“The third criteria was to reduce the risk of future disorder. The last is to rebuild social trust and promote cohesion between communities.
“We have been asked to submit an action plan for October 28, with ten days to do it. The action plan is high level, in reference to the core themes we believe will tackle the issues.”
