Irish language council row branded an 'embarrassing bunfight'

An exterior shot of Belfast City Hall. It is a large, imposing building made from blocks of light coloured stone and has a green dome on its roof. There are also a number of statues on the lawn in front of the building. IWM/Getty Images

A row broke out over the Irish Language at Belfast City Council on Monday night

Mark Simpson
BBC News NI community correspondent

A row broke out over the Irish language at Belfast City Council on Monday night with the Lord Mayor warning those involved "we're not at a football match, boys".

The clash between Sinn Féin's Ciaran Beattie and the Democratic Unionist Party's (DUP) Dean McCullough was described by another councillor as an "embarrassing bunfight".

The argument, during a debate on Irish language policy at the council, began when Beattie said the DUP "do not like Irish" and suggested many people might deem their approach "racist".

He said the DUP's opposition to the use of Irish language had cost ratepayers "probably hundreds of thousands of pounds in legal fees".

Dean McCullough has combed brown hair and is smiling. He is wearing a white shirt and red tie with white polkadots.

DUP Belfast City Councillor Dean McCullough

McCullough responded: "Are you saying we're racist?"

"You're anti-Irish," replied Beattie.

McCullough asked again: "Are you saying we're racist?"

"You're anti-Irish," said Beattie.

They then started speaking over the top of each other before Lord Mayor Tracy Kelly intervened.

"We're not at a football match, boys," she said.

"Councillor Beattie, Alderman McCullough - the point has been taken, can you finish your remarks please."

Ciaran Beattie has short, brown hair and is wearing a grey t-shirt, a grey Council lanyard and a black coat with a grey hood. He is standing in the middle of Belfast City Hall's foyer as a number of tourists gather in the background.

Sinn Féin councillor Ciaran Beattie, pictured in 2019, spoke during Monday night's meeting

Beattie is the leader of the Sinn Féin group on the council while McCullough is deputy leader of the DUP in the chamber.

The Lord Mayor is also a member of the DUP.

As remarks were made by various parties, Kelly restored order, adding: "We're not here to shout at each other across the chamber."

Séamas de Faoite of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) said: "I think it's quite ironic that we were told last week that the two parties that are currently arguing over language have agreed on the appointment of two new commissioners to take forward the piece of work around the promotion and respect of language and language rights.

"But yet we're happy to have yet another embarrassing bunfight in this chamber about the promotion of the Irish language."

Tracy Kelly has almost shoulder-length blonde hair and is wearing a cream, ribbed jumper. She is standing in a corridor in Belfast City Hall with some painted portraits on the wall behind her, but they are blurred. She is smiling at the camera.

Belfast Lord Mayor Tracy Kelly chaired Monday night's council meeting

DUP councillor James Lawlor insisted his party was not anti-Irish. He accused Sinn Féin of politicising the language.

He said: "Those who speak Irish should be respected but also those who do not identify with it should be allowed to not have it forced upon them."

Alliance Party councillor Jenna Maghie compared the debate to one involving young children.

She described it as "unedifying".

The exchange came at the monthly meeting of the 60-member council on Monday night where an Irish language policy for Belfast City Council was agreed upon and £1.9m was committed towards an implementation plan.

After the meeting Beattie welcomed the new policy and said it "will be an exciting time for the language in this city".

"Sinn Féin look forward to working with the Irish language community and others in the weeks and months ahead to finalise this game-changing policy," he added.

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