Sinn Féin Councillor advises against hearing from community group so as to not “raise expectation”
An old tile style Ormeau Road sign(Image: Belfast Live)
Sinn Féin have poured cold water on a proposal for a new arts centre in South Belfast, stating there is not enough in the council’s budget even for a feasibility study.
The party was responding to an SDLP proposal, forwarded at a Belfast City Council committee meeting this week at City Hall.
Despite showing reservations, Sinn Féin did not object to the SDLP motion, which called for a feasibility study to examine the potential for a dedicated arts and culture space in Ballynafeigh, Ormeau Road, working with Open Ormeau and the local community.
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The motion was passed at the council’s City Growth and Regeneration Committee, with councillors agreeing to an initial officer paper looking at the potential for a feasibility study, including cost implications, and to hear a deputation from members of the Open Ormeau project.
The motion states the council “acknowledges the thriving and inclusive arts and cultural scene in Ballynafeigh and the benefits this brings not just to the local area, but to the city and region more widely”.
It adds: “The council notes the growing aspiration in the community, particularly emerging through the Open Ormeau Community Visioning project which took place in 2025, for a dedicated arts and cultural space in Ballynafeigh, recognising the strong local interest in the arts, music and culture, and the area’s increasing status as a destination for both residents and visitors to Belfast.”
Sinn Féin Councillor Ronan McLaughlin said at the meeting: “On the overall proposal, while I don’t mind it coming back for a report, the reality is within committee budgets, there needs to be a discussion as to how you would actually fund this.”
He said: “Similar proposals have come from working groups, in relation to funding and feasibility studies. There is a £100,000 dedicated feasibility fund from Physical Development that is allocated every single year.
“A report needs to go to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee on this, because this cannot be met with the existing departmental budgets.” He said the council may not have the money even for a feasibility study.
SDLP Councillor Séamas de Faoite, who proposed the motion, said at the meeting: “Open Ormeau did a very good piece of community engagement work in late 2024/early 2025 on what the community would like to see in the local area, in terms of improvements, and what they would like to see protected.”
He said: “There were a number of asks that came out of that project, and one of them was to look at a better provision around arts and culture in the Ballynafeigh area. We are lucky in terms of the neighbourhood that there is a wealth of people involved in the arts and culture sector living in that part of South Belfast.
“Historically it has always been described as being very bohemian, and somewhere we take a great deal of pride in. The multicultural and diverse nature of the neighbourhood is something I think should be held up as an example to the rest of the city, rather than the exception.”
He said: “In the first instance what I would like to propose is that we invite Open Ormeau to come in and present to the committee their community vision before we move forward to committing for a feasibility study.”
While the committee agreed to this proposal, Sinn Féin Councillor Tómas Ó’Néill again gave a warning. He said: “I think bringing them in will create an expectation, when we are not promising anything, and I think we should be more cautious (than that). The (council’s) South Belfast Area Working Group might be a better forum for it.”
The council’s Working Groups, each dedicated to a quadrant of the city and other issues, are held in secret sessions, away from the public and press.
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