Councillor says “the ones that are going to be included, are the ones that scored the highest”
CGI of what the Belfast Stories development will look like
Sinn Féin is continuing its criticism of the Belfast Stories project, which it says “won’t be telling stories of everybody” due to its scoring system.
Sinn Féin has called into question the community grant scoring system which will influence the very heart of the project, and has failed in an attempt to defer grant allocations following the recent completion of the applications and assessments. Sinn Féin Councillor Ciaran Beattie said this week there was “going to be many parts and cultures of the city excluded” from sharing their stories in the project.
Earlier this year Sinn Féin said it was opposed to the BBC becoming an “anchor tenant” at the visitor attraction in Belfast city centre, which should be completed by 2030.
READ MORE: Sinn Féin and DUP accused of funding “carve-up” including £100K for Irish signs
The party did not explain this remark at length in public, and debates around the project have been shrouded in secrecy during so-called “restricted items” at Belfast Council committees, where public and press are not allowed to hear what is going on. Only brief committee minutes, with scant detail, give any indication of the debate surrounding the project.
Belfast Stories is a £100 million, 5,000-square-metre regeneration project set to transform the historic, Art Deco former Bank of Ireland building and its surrounding site at the junction of Royal Avenue and North Street. Scheduled to open by 2030, it will serve as a combined public space, visitor attraction, and creative hub.
In February the council invited Belfast-based community and cultural organisations to apply for funding through the new Belfast Stories Community Grants Programme, a £250,000 initiative to support story-based projects across the city.
The programme offers ten small grants of up to £10,000, and five creative project grants of up to £30,000, which the council says will “support initiatives across a broad range of creative fields that explore cultural identity, heritage and creativity through storytelling.”
However the grant programme is causing division within the council. At the May meeting of the council’s important Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, elected members were provided with an update on the proposed award of Belfast Stories Community Grants strands 2 and 3, following the completion of the application, assessment and moderation processes.
Although this debate was held in secret session, minutes show a Sinn Féin proposal to defer consideration of the report “so that further information on the process could be provided to party group leaders” was passed on a knife-edge vote, after the Sinn Féin committee chair used a casting vote.
A DUP amendment from the meeting failed, again on a knife edge vote. It proposed awarding five recommended creative project grants, of up to £30,000, and noted 12 small grants up to £10,000 approved under delegated authority.
The DUP also proposed that “in light of the significant demand and high quality of submissions received, the council agrees to increase the fund for small grants utilising an additional allocation of £41,560 from the Belfast Region City Deal reserve to fund four additional projects.”
None of these projects have been detailed, and none of the groups who would receive these grants are named.
At the full council meeting this week, the Alliance Party successfully reversed the committee decision. A proposal by Alliance Councillor Jenna Maghie received 30 votes in favour, from Alliance, the DUP, the UUP, the TUV, the SDLP and the Green Party, to 24 votes against from Sinn Féin, People Before Profit, and Independent Councillor Paul Doherty.
She proposed a version of the DUP committee proposal, which was to follow the officer’s recommendation to award five creative project grants, of up to £30,000, and note 12 grants of up to £10,000. She also proposed a further report that “looks at the gaps in the process and how we can fill them.”
She said: “Now the responses have all come in, are we to tell all those groups who went through what was a really rigorous application process, that we are not happy with the outcome, and that we are not processing them within the scoring mechanism? I just don’t think that is fair on the groups, or the officers that have done all that work.
“We were told very clearly last week this is the first stage of the story collection process, and that there will be many, many more opportunities to contribute to the collection of this amazing project. It isn’t okay to continually set up funding processes, and when we don’t like the outcomes, we say we are not going to progress with them.”
DUP Councillor Sarah Bunting said at the meeting: “I think this process was open for all communities to apply to. The process was quite rigorous, and there will be a second tranche where we will look at those communities that are under-represented.”
SInn Féin Councillor Ciaran Beattie said at the meeting: “We have raised concerns about this, and they are genuine concerns. We didn’t propose that we stop this, or look at a different method.
“Belfast Stories is about telling Belfast stories. It is not about telling the stories of those who score the highest. The problem for us, is that if you look at the groups, geographically there is not a good spread across the city.
“If you look at certain cultures in the city, they are not represented either. You can say there will be other opportunities, but the reality is that there are going to be many parts and cultures of the city excluded.
“And the ones that are going to be included, are the ones that scored the highest. Is that the story of Belfast?”
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