Organisers of Belfast's St Patrick's Day celebrations have vowed that their plans for a four-day carnival in the city will proceed despite the surprise decision by Belfast City Council on Monday night to withdraw £50,000 funding for the event.
Launching a brochure on the carnival at City Hall yesterday the Lord Mayor, Mr David Alderdice, said he hoped it would be a great event, but the funding withdrawal would be a bitter disappointment.
Belfast held its first St Patrick's Day parade last year, and organisers estimated that 80,000 people turned out.
A spokeswoman for the City Council said that the £50,000 grant had been approved last September on the basis that a cross-community committee would organise the event. "Unfortunately this committee failed to reach agreement on a number of issues so the council could not continue with the funding."
A DUP councillor, Mr Sammy Wilson, tabled the motion at Monday's meeting for funding to be withdrawn. An SDLP councillor, Mr Alex Attwood, tabled a compromise proposal that official flags for the event should be the county flag, the official parade flag and the Cross of St Patrick. However, Sinn Fein voted against the SDLP motion as an attempt to ban the Tricolour.
Mr Attwood said yesterday that Sinn Fein's actions were "bizarre and short-sighted."