SDLP blocks Belfast St Patrick's Day parade
A decision by the SDLP to support unionist efforts to block funding for next year's St Patrick's Day parade in Belfast has angered many nationalists.
At a meeting of Belfast City Council last week, Sinn Féin's proposal for funding for the 2000 Parade was rejected when the rival unionist St Patrick's Day Heritage Committee, established by unionist Nelson McCausland, tabled its own request for money.
All parties on the council voted against the Sinn Féin motion, including the SDLP.
Lower Falls Sinn Féin councillor Sean McKnight, who tabled the funding application, slammed the SDLP decision not to support the Carnival Committee as ``a sop to unionism''.
McKnight had proposed that the council allocate £25,000 to the St Patrick's Day Carnival, a sum which is only one third of the £75,000 set aside for Belfast's Halloween festivities. The Carnival has been a huge success over the past two years, attracting tens of thousands of people to Belfast city centre.
In response to this success, however, unionist politicians formed their own committee, the St Patrick's Day Heritage Committee, and bid for the funding against the Carnival Committee. Since the first St Patrick's Day Parade (organised by the West Belfast Festival committee) first paraded to the City Hall in 1997, unionist politicians have tried to stop the parade reaching the city centre, using the excuse that unionists were offended by the tricolours carried by the crowd.
Last year, the organisers designed their multicultural flag to get around unionist objections and asked revellers not to bring tricolours, a request that was adhered to yet had no effect on unionist objections.
Speaking to An Phoblacht, McKnight said: ``The decision came as no surprise. The unionists clearly don't want a St Patrick's Day celebration in this city. That's why the St Patrick's Day Heritage Committee was set up. Really, it's there to frustrate the efforts of reasonable people to celebrate the day of our national saint like anywhere else. To consider their bid for funding to be on a par with that of the Carnival Committee is ridiculous.
``In trying to resolve the situation, Sinn Féin changed the motion to say that funding should be allocated now and anybody else with a legitimate case should be accommodated. This, however, was rejected by the council.
Caitríona Ruane of the Carnival Committee also criticised the decision. ``We have jumped through every hoop to please the council and still they refuse to fund us,'' she said. ``We have organised two of the most successful events this city has seen and still we have to go cap in hand. We're very disappointed with the SDLP and the other parties. It's just frustrating that further hurdles have been placed in our path.''
Ruane and other members of the Carnival Committee picketed the SDLP's annual conference at the weekend to protest at the party's actions.
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/aprn.gif)