Lord Mayor Niall O Donnghaile steps down early for Jubilee

Niall O Donnghaile was the youngest ever lord mayor to be elected in Belfast City Council

Sinn Fein's Belfast lord mayor Niall O Donnghaile is standing down a few days earlier to allow a DUP councillor to take over the post in time for the Queen's Jubliee celebrations.

The party denied suggestions it was because Mr O Donnghaile wanted to avoid any chance of meeting the Queen if she was to visit during the Jubliee.

Sinn Fein said the move was to accommodate not snub unionists.

Mr O Donnghaile was the youngest ever lord mayor to be elected in Belfast.

Jim McVeigh, head of the Sinn Fein group at the council, said the decision had been taken almost a year ago following the elections in May.

"The party leaders sat following the election and worked out who was going to be mayor in the first year, the second year, etc," he said.

"It was at that point that we realised that the Jubilee would fall a few days before the DUP were due to take over from ourselves.

Co-operate

"They had expressed an interest in the matter and we offered to bring the AGM forward where the mayor is elected by a few days to accommodate them, so ironically rather than this being a snub to anyone, it was a case of us trying to accommodate unionists.

"This is a case of good, cooperative politics in practice."

Mr McVeigh said if the Queen was to visit while Mr O Donnghaile was still mayor, he did not think that he would meet her.

The Sinn Fein mayor was criticised by unionists on the council for refusing to present a Duke of Edinburgh award to a teenage army cadet last November.

Mr O Donnghaile later released a statement in which he said that he would never go out of his way to cause offence.

He said he would be happy to meet the cadet and her family to explain his decision, and said it was "nothing personal".