59 men, 17 women and 10 organisations have received the Freedom of the City in Belfast
Belfast City Council took the prosecution(Image: Belfast Live )
Belfast Council has been accused of “gender imbalance” with its Freedom of the City awards and will identify four women to receive the honour next year.
Elected members at City Hall this week agreed to address the disparity, and also to look at the potential for a new “City Ambassadors” scheme to “allow for more diverse recognition than the Freedom of the City.”
SDLP Councillor Séamas de Faoite said at the May full council meeting: “I have said for some time there is a significant gender disparity in terms of the people we have awarded the Freedom of the City over the years. A significant number of the women who have been recognised have been by virtue of their husband receiving Freedom of the City. I think that is a problem.”
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He asked for proposals to come back to the council’s Strategic Policy and Resources Committee to address the imbalance and would “include a process with the women’s sector to identify four women who have made a lasting impact on Belfast, to be awarded Freedom of the City as part of the international Women’s Day programme of events in 2027.”
Alliance Councillor Michael Long said at the meeting: “It is important we recognise the number of women Freedom members has been pretty poor, and 11 of those have been the wives of various sirs and barons. It is unrepresentative in terms of how we recognise the achievements of people in our city, whether it is in arts, sport or whatever. The Freedom of the City is very limited, as we have agreed to only have one every term.”
The council also agreed to return a paper looking at a “City Ambassadors” scheme which would recognise “those in the city who have made outstanding contributions in various sectors,” after a successful motion by Councillor Long.
The figures for men and women who received the Freedom of the City award cannot be exactly calculated, as there has been a long tradition of giving the award to groups, such as frontline careworkers in 2022, Belfast nurses in 2015, the Merchant Navy in 2002, and the ambulance service of the Eastern Board and the Fire Brigade in 1992.
But to date 59 men, 17 women and 10 organisations have received the Freedom of the City.
The Freedom of the City tradition dates back to the early thirteenth century and while in earlier times there were many privileges and benefits connected to the title, today it is purely honorary. It is the highest civic honour that can be awarded to an individual or organisation, by councillors on behalf of the city “in recognition of immense pride, or expressing gratitude for exemplary service.”
The first person to be awarded the Freedom of the City of Belfast was William Pirrie in 1898. The latest recipient, organ donation campaigner Dáithí Mac Gabhann, at six years old was the youngest ever recipient and the only person under 18 to receive it.
Many well-known figures have been made a Freeman of the City including Queen Elizabeth II, Winston Churchill, President Bill Clinton, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Van Morrison, Dame Mary Peters and Kenneth Branagh.
The council states: “Despite popular myth, being a Freeman of the City of Belfast does not allow the recipient to graze sheep on the lawns of City Hall or expect complimentary drinks at any of the city’s pubs or hotels.”
Earlier this year calls were made for Belfast City Council to revoke George Mitchell’s Freedom of the City due to accusations made against him in the context of his association with Jeffrey Epstein. Virginia Giuffre alleged she was forced to have sex with Mitchell, an accusation he has consistently denied.
US President Bill Clinton and Senator George J Mitchell were made Freemen of the City of Belfast in a joint ceremony at the Ulster Hall in April 2018, in recognition of their services to peace-building in Northern Ireland.
A bust of Mitchell, a former United States senator who played a crucial role in Northern Ireland’s peace process, and who was the Queen’s University Belfast chancellor for 10 years, was removed from the grounds QUB in February. The bust, installed in 2023, cost around £35,000.
For a full list of Freemen of the City visit here.
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