Republican News · Thursday 7 March 2002

City Hall scrooges won't stop the Carnival

"When is a grant not a grant?" I asked myself after hearing that Belfast City Council, rather than fund the St Patrick's Day Carnival for this year's parade, agreed to set £50,000 aside for anyone wishing to apply for grants to celebrate St Patrick's Day.

The Council also extended the deadline for those wishing to apply for this money until 31 March, which means the money won't be handed out until some time in April.

The upshot of all this is that for the fifth year in a row, Belfast City Council is refusing to give money to the St Patrick's Day Carnival Committee, which means that the Carnival organisers and those who want to make floats and costumes have to find the money themselves.

In recent years, the St Patrick's Day parade in Belfast has proven itself to be one of the most colourful and well attended events that the city has seen, up to 80,000 people have attended. Despite this, the City Council, which found itself able to hand out £100,000 to anyone wishing to celebrate the golden jubilee year of the British monarch, has yet to give a penny to the St Patrick's Day Carnival.

Irene Sherry chairperson of the St Patrick's Day Carnival Committee says that while the City Council has acknowledged, in principle, that the Carnival should be funded, "the reality for this year, as with past years is that we have not been given any money".