Unionists block community centre over GAA names

The DUP has blocked funding for a community centre indefinitely because of the appearance of the names of the two Irish War of Independence heroes on nearby gates to the site.

The proposed new sports and community centre in Glenariff is due to be built within the grounds of Oisin Glenariff GAA club.

But opposition has been brought by the DUP members of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council because gates near the site bear the names Charlie McAllister and Pat McVeigh. The two members of the ‘old’ IRA were killed in action in 1922, and the ground is named McAllister-McVeigh Memorial Park in their honour.

Plans for the shared community space are now in jeopardy after DUP members decided to call-in the council’s decision. It claimed the building of the centre in Glenariff would “re-traumatise” people.

Glens Sinn Fein councillor Cara McShane, who branded the move a “deliberate stalling tactic”, said the DUP had “enraged people from all sections of the community”. SDLP Glens councillor and chair of the council’s Leisure Committee Margaret Anne McKillop said she was “absolutely devastated” by the DUP’s move.

“It is incredibly distressing for those of us who have pressed for this new development which would really lift the whole area,” she said. “A community facility like this should be beyond grandstanding.... Pressing the nuclear button at the last minute is a disgrace.”

Urgent Appeal