A DECISION to award former British prime minister John Major with the honour of the Freedom of Cork city has met with opposition.
City councillors have passed a resolution put forward by Lord Mayor Donal Counihan to grant the Freedom of the City jointly to Mr Major and former taoiseach Albert Reynolds for their contribution to the Northern Ireland peace process.
The resolution was passed by a majority of 21-6 in a controversial departure from standing orders that has been condemned by Labour and Sinn Féin members of the council. A date for the formal ceremony has not yet been set, but it is expected to take place in late June.
Mr Counihan said yesterday he put forward his resolution in recognition of the contribution of Mr Major and Mr Reynolds to kick-starting the peace process, negotiating a ceasefire in the North and bringing the Downing Street Declaration into being.
“We have peace now in Ireland. To be fair, there are many people who contributed to the peace process, some who are unknown.
“George Mitchell and John Hume have already received the Freedom of Cork city and I felt John Major and Albert Reynolds also deserved this honour for the hard work they did in laying the groundwork for what was put in place by Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair,” he said. Sinn Féin councillor Jonathan O’Brien said he and his two fellow party members would be boycotting the Freedom of the City ceremony in protest.
They had no problem with Mr Reynolds receiving the honour and had in fact asked the Lord Mayor last week to put the two nominees forward separately, but this had not happened. They had been left with no choice but to vote against both, he said.
“I don’t think Major was as willing to get involved in the peace process as people think today. This is a guy who wouldn’t even sign the George Mitchell Principles of Non-Violence – it was actually Tony Blair who signed them.”
Labour councillor Michael O’Connell said it was disgraceful that standing orders had been changed at the last minute to allow the Lord Mayor’s resolution to be passed by a simple majority instead of two-thirds of the members in the chamber.
“My argument is that we must put into context what John Major’s overall contribution was to the peace process. I would prefer it if history judged his performance, rather than Cork City Council awarding him the city’s highest honour, which I feel he doesn’t deserve,” he said.
Other former recipients of the Freedom of Cork city include Éamon de Valera, John F Kennedy, Jack Lynch and Bishop Cornelius Lucey.
