DUP split over £16k spent by council to retain membership of European city network

"There have been excellent opportunities"

Councillor Sammy Douglas

A SPLIT has emerged within the DUP over £16,000 annual membership fee spent by Belfast City Council to retain membership of a European city network.

At a recent Belfast City Council committee meeting, newly elected and younger DUP representatives came up against opinion from the old guard over city hall"s annual subscription to the Eurocities network.

Eurocities is a network of more than 200 major cities, across 38 countries.

It is made up of the elected local and municipal governments.

Sixteen cities in the UK have maintained their membership since Brexit.

A council report said the network was "important in positioning the city and building strong networks to support shared leaning and collaboration".

With the North no longer being part of the EU, members were told, there was limited access to funding opportunities

Newly elected DUP r representative for Ormiston, Andrew McCormick, asked how the membership benefits the city economically.

He requested an economic analysis and a report on the findings to be returned to the committee.

Titanic councilor Sammy Douglas was more positive and said: "It has been there for decades now, and I remember being on one of these programs.

"One of the benefits I have seen counsellors who in those days didn't even talk to one another would go away and actually build relationships.

"Sometimes we can be a bit parochial in Belfast. "Let's be honest, this is quite a small city, and I think there have been excellent opportunities come from this.

"The more we can get out and see other cities are doing, and build up links and networks [ the better]."

Another newly elected DUP representative for Ormiston, Alderman James Lawlor, said: "I understood completely what councillor Douglas is saying, but as we don't have access to the funding now, which are the main reason to be involved with things like this, I am not really sure where the benefits are going to be."

The council City Growth and Regeneration Committee voted.

unanimously to renew the 30-year subscription to the network, this year for a fee of £16,300..

With thanks to the: Irish News.

NI Protocol Bill: Peers set to scrutinise it line-by-line

The NI Protocol Bill moves to its next stage in the House of Lords on Tuesday.

DUP/UVF's loyalist newspaper calling all unionists to transfer their votes to anti-Protocol parties namely the DUP. 

Peers are scheduled to spend four days on line-by-line scrutiny of the proposed legislation.

The protocol is the Brexit agreement for Northern Ireland which was agreed by the UK and EU in 2019.

If the bill is passed into law it would give the UK government unilateral powers to change the operation and oversight of the protocol.

The UK has acknowledged this would breach the terms of the deal but has claimed this can be justified on the grounds of "necessity" under international law.

If it becomes law the EU could start fresh infringement proceedings under EU law or trigger the dispute resolution mechanism under the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.

The protocol keeps NI in the EU's single market for goods, avoiding the need for a hard border with the Irish Republic after Brexit.

However, it also creates a new trade border between North of Ireland and the rest of the UK, something the EU accepts is causing difficulties for many businesses.

Unionists also say it is undermining NI's place in the UK and is contrary to the spirit of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the peace deal which set up power sharing in Northern Ireland.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is refusing to return to power sharing at Stormont due to the DUP and loyalist paramilitary opposition to the protocol. 

▪️What is the NI Protocol? 

▪️NI Protocol Bill passes Commons

The EU has proposed ways of easing the impacts of the protocol but the UK says these measures do not go far enough.

The UK government presented the protocol bill to the House of Commons in June and it was passed without amendment by the end of July.

It is expected to face a more difficult time in the Lords.

Peers have submitted more than 20 pages of amendments, including a Labour amendment which would require the government to "exhaust legal routes under the EU withdrawal agreement" before availing itself of the powers in the bill.

With many thanks to: BBCNewsNI and John Campbell (NI Economics and Business Editor) for the original story. 

Follow these links to find out more on this story: Steve Baker comments on Sky News were do as the DUP want and f**k the EU and f**k the Irish government!

More DUP lies and hypocrisy by Jeffrey Donaldson MP on Good Morning Ulster 25th October, 2022

The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill moves to its next stage in the House of Lords on Tuesday.