Belfast City Hall to host 1916 reception – but without President Higgins in attendance
By Anthony Neeson
The Lord Mayor of Belfast has expressed his disappointment that President Michael D. Higgins has pulled out of a civic reception at Belfast City Hall to commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising.
The president was supposed to attend this Friday's City Hall event as part of Belfast’s 100th anniversary commemorations.
The city has been promoting its links with the Rising in recent months, not least that two of the seven signatories of the 1916 Proclamation, James Connolly and Seán Mac Diarmada, both lived and worked there in the year’s preceding the Rising.
A spokesperson for the president said he had initially accepted the invitation on the basis that it had “cross party support.”
The Democratic Unionist Party, however, refused to attend the reception, while the Ulster Unionist Party pulled out after the president said he could no longer attend.
Speaking of his disappointment at the president’s decision, Lord Mayor of Belfast, Arder Carson, said: “Both personally, and on behalf of Belfast City Council, I am extremely disappointed that the president is no longer attending this event, part of our Decade of Centenaries programme.
“The overall programme for the decade was agreed by full council and has cross-party support and that position has not changed.
“A lot of hard work has gone into creating an inclusive programme of events which is respectful of all viewpoints, and which focuses on the key events of our shared history, and those which have impacted on our city.
“In this important year, which reflects on the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising and the Battle of the Somme, Belfast City Council has shown leadership in how we mark these events and I would wish that to continue.
“The dinner will of course be going ahead on April 8 and I am very much looking forward to the occasion.”
Speaking on a visit to Belfast, Sinn Féin vice-president, Mary Lou McDonald, said she shares in the disappointment of the people of Belfast that President Higgins will not now attend the civic dinner.
“I feel it’s very important that Uachtarán na hÉireann visits all parts of Ireland, particularly in this commemorative year. Belfast, after all, it is the second city of Ireland.
“The purpose of the event is to commemorate and celebrate in the most inclusive way. I wonder who advised or gave that direction and I hope that decision might be reconsidered.”
