A bad-tempered meeting saw councillors from Sinn Féin, the SDLP, the Green Party and People Before Profit leave the chamber in protest
Belfast City Council is to send a vote of no confidence in the Education Minister Paul Givan for his part in a six day trip to Israel by unionist politicians, in which he visited an Israeli school in occupied Palestinian territory.
During a long and bad-tempered meeting of the full monthly Belfast City Council on Monday evening, councillors from Sinn Féin, the SDLP, the Green Party and People Before Profit left the chamber at City Hall in protest. They left after the DUP Lord Mayor Tracy Kelly twice prevented councillors from raising the issue of the Education Minister and making proposals in relation to him.
The Lord Mayor first stopped People Before Profit Councillor Michael Collins making a proposal in relation to Minister Givan in official announcements by stating it was a political announcement, and then stopped Sinn Féin Councillor Caoimhín McCann during the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee minutes, by stating his remarks were not relevant.
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Sinn Féin, the SDLP, the Green Party and People Before Profit, representing just over half the elected council, then left the chamber, leaving only Alliance, the DUP, the UUP and the TUV. Alliance made a proposal to temporarily adjourn the meeting to find a solution, to which the DUP did not agree.
A number of Sinn Féin councillors returned to the chamber to help Alliance get an adjournment proposal over the line. After a twenty minute break, the meeting resumed.
Sinn Féin Councillor Caoimhín McCann later successfully raised the Minister Givan proposal under the City Growth and Regeneration minute.
Councillor Caoimhín McCann proposed the council write to the Stormont Department of Education, asking them “to remove the content posted regarding the minister’s trip to occupied territories in Palestine, removing the content posted on communication channels.” He also proposed the council note in their letter to the Department that City Hall had “declared no confidence in the Minister for Education.”
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A vote on the Sinn Féin proposal saw 40 in favour from Sinn Féin, Alliance, the SDLP, the Green Party and People Before Profit, and 15 against from the DUP, the UUP and the TUV. The proposal was carried.
Paul Givan was among a group of unionist politicians including DUP MP Sammy Wilson, former UUP leader and current MLA Steve Aiken, former Belfast Councillor and now DUP MLA David Brooks, and TUV Belfast councillor Ron McDowell, who took part in a six-day trip in October. It was organised and hosted by the Israeli government.
During the trip, they met victims of Hamas, visited a Holocaust memorial, were briefed by Israel’s foreign ministry, and toured Ofek School in Jerusalem, which is in annexed Palestinian territory, taken in the six day war in 1967. The part of East Jerusalem in which the school was built is not recognised as Israeli territory by the UK government.
At the Belfast City Hall meeting on Monday, People Before Profit Councillor Michael Collins said: “I think it is deplorable the way Paul Givan has been afforded the opportunity to engage in what is basically a propaganda trip, to utilise department resources and his position as minister, by engaging in a completely uncritical promotional trip to Israel.
“He stood smiling in photographs with Israeli officials while just a few miles away Gaza is in ruins. He visited a school which is built on an illegal settlement in Jerusalem, where Palestinians were forced from their land, and were denied the right to return.
“He did this in order to try and sanitise the image of Israel at a time when it has come under international pressure, and is facing sanctions from around the world for its practice of genocide and apartheid. He has evoked the outrage of teachers, classroom assistants and children right across the education system.” Councillor Collins said Paul Givan “was not fit to hold public office” and “brought the whole Department of Education into disrepute.”
DUP Councillor Sarah Bunting said: “Let’s keep perspective, the minister undertook an educational visit, including a school in Jerusalem, and his department publicised it, with no attached political messaging. You may disagree with the optics, or the timing, but disagreement is not misconduct.
“There is no evidence of any breach of the Ministerial Code, any misuse of public funds or dereliction of duty in his portfolio.” She said the proposal by Sinn Féin was “symbolic only and does not remove the minister” and “wasted time” in the council chamber.
Alliance Councillor Sam Nelson said: “I believe the minister showed extremely poor judgement in taking the trip, and what’s more, the trip was politicking in itself. The trip, and his reaction to criticism, is politicking.
“The minister needs to consistently reflect on his divisive approach to politics and government. It is not what we need in this place, we need people who are willing to listen and to work together, it is the only way this place works. We are going down a very dangerous road for the institutions if this continues.”
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