Council vote no confidence in education minister after walking out

The walk-out was due to a dispute about Paul Givan's recent trip to Israel

Belfast City Council has passed a motion of no confidence in the Education Minister Paul Givan after half of the chamber walked out earlier over debating the issue.

The motion proposed by Sinn Féin councillor Caoimhín McCann was approved by 40 votes to 15 and follows a similar motion which is expected to be tabled at Stormont over Paul Givan's six-day trip to Israel.

The council dispute which led to the walkout was over how the DUP (Democratic Unionist Party) Lord Mayor Tracy Kelly handled an earlier attempt by Sinn Féin to raise the issue.

Councillors who walked out were from Sinn Féin, the SDLP (Social Democratic and Labour Party), the Green Party and People Before Profit.

With 22 representatives in the 60-member council, Sinn Féin is the largest party at City Hall.

Following the initial walk out, it took almost an hour to persuade all the councillors to return to the chamber.

During bizarre scenes, some of the Sinn Féin councillors suddenly resumed their seats during a vote on whether to pause proceedings for a short adjournment.

The DUP opposed the break but, with the help of the returning Sinn Féin councillors, the proposal was passed by 19 votes to 15

Twenty minutes later, after talks behind the scenes, the meeting resumed.

TUV (Traditional Unionist Voice) councillor Ron McDowell accused Sinn Féin of trying to "hijack" the meeting.

He said: "The Lord Mayor was absolutely right to intervene to prevent the chamber being misused in this way and to ensure council business continued in line with proper procedure and established democratic practice.

"The people of Belfast expect their council to deal with the business before it — not to become a stage for last-minute political ambushes and point-scoring."

The deputy Lord Mayor, Paul Doherty, posted a video on X and said the walk-out was due to a member being "restricted" from speaking about Palestine and was "prevented" from making a proposal in the chamber.

"We sought clarity on process, that was shot down as well."

He said if the mayor is going to "shut down" a conversation about Palestine, "we're shutting down the meeting".

Doherty said the mayor was "silencing" the conversation to "protect her education minister from scrutiny".

"We will always stand up for accountability, due process, and the right to speak on the matters of human rights," he added.

Paul Givan is under scrutiny over a six-day trip to Israel

After the meeting resumed, councillors voted in favour of flying the Palestinian flag at Belfast City Hall later this month.

The proposal, from Sinn Féin's Ryan Murphy, was passed in spite of unionist opposition by 41 votes to 15.

The flag is expected to be flown on November 29 as part of an international day of solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Meanwhile, McCann's proposal was to "write to the Department of Education and ask them to remove the content posted on their communication channels regarding the Minister's trip to occupied Palestine, declare Belfast City Council has no confidence in the Minister for Education, and write to him informing him of our position".

Defending her party colleague, DUP councillor Sarah Bunting said Givan had done nothing wrong.

Sarah Bunting said the vote was "petty politicking"

At the meeting the DUP leader on the council, Sarah Bunting, said the vote on McCann's motion had been "petty politicking" and a waste of time.

"I think it was ridiculous. It's not something that this council should be dealing with," she told BBC News NI following the council meeting.

"I assume the vote of no confidence will come next week in the assembly, but that is a matter for the assembly to deal with, and that is something that the minister is more than capable of answering for himself."

She insisted Givan had not broken the ministerial code through his visit to Israel.