Lisburn nationalists excluded
by Laura Friel
``Discriminatory, undemocratic and unjust,'' is how Sinn Féin Councillor Paul
Butler describes unionist control of Lisburn Borough Council. Unionist
domination and nationalist marginalisation characterise party
representation on council committees and outside bodies, says Paul.
Sinn Féin is the second largest party in Lisburn Borough Council and yet
the party is systematically under-represented in the allocation of posts
within the council. And it doesn't stop there. Nationalist representation
as a whole is marginalised, effectively disenfranchising the entire
nationalist electorate of Lisburn.
Lisburn Borough Council is one of the most notoriously sectarian councils
in the North. In the past, the council has successfully campaigned to
restrict the number of houses built in the nationalist Poleglass estate, a
blatant attempt to curtail the growing nationalist electorate within their
remit.
The council has also been guilty of systematic discrimination in the
allocation of funding to both Twinbrook and Poleglass, two large
nationalist estates which fall within the boundaries of the Lisburn
district.
The largest party in Lisburn is the Ulster Unionist Party, which commands
13 seats out of 30. Sinn Féin, the next largest group, has four seats. The
Alliance Party has three seats, with the SDLP, DUP and UDP returning two
seats each. There are also four independent councillors, of which one is
nationalist and the other three unionist.
There are ten standing committees on Lisburn council. Out of the ten
chairpersonships, the Ulster Unionists control six, the other four are
allocated singly to Alliance, DUP, an independent unionist and the mayor.
One chairpersonship is allocated to the mayor by virtue of his office. Only
on the rare occasion, for example when there is a nationalist mayor, has
any nationalist been allotted a position as chair of a committee.
Positions of vice-chair follow a similar pattern. Currently, the UUP
controls all vice chairs within Lisburn Borough Council. Sinn Féin is
totally excluded from both chair and vice-chair posts. Party representation
on outside bodies such as the Dunmurray District Partnership is not much
better.
The combined unionist representation to outside bodies is 87.7%, with
nationalist representation at a mere 11.8% - half the amount which would be
awarded to nationalist representatives if a system of proportionality was
introduced into the council.
``Belfast City Council have of their own volition, chosen to adopt a
proportionality system for their council,'' says Paul Butler. ``Only the
adoption of a similar system will address the democratic deficit that
exists in Lisburn Council.''
Furthermore, says Paul, the actions of Lisburn Council stand in sharp
contrast to section 6 of the Good Friday Agreement with regards to rights,
safeguards and equality of opportunity. ``Enshrined in the Agreement is the
right to pursue democratically national and political aspirations, `` says
Paul, ``yet unionist domination within Lisburn Borough Council excludes a
substantial minority of the population from the democratic process.''
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/aprn.gif)