A bitter row over whether a Pipe Band Championship should be held in Newtownards or Bangor has split the DUP and Ards and North Down Council down the middle.
An argument at the monthly meeting of the full council on Wednesday, October 26, saw a proposal passed to invite the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association of Northern Ireland to address councillors on their preferences for a venue for the County Down Pipe Band Championship.
As a result DUP Newtownards councillors were involved in rancorous exchanges with their own party colleagues who represent Bangor district electoral areas. The Newtownards representatives voted against the proposal, stating it was an attempt to row back on an agreement made before Covid to rotate the championship venue on alternate years between Newtownards and Bangor.
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DUP Alderman for Newtownards Stephen McIlveen urged the council to vote down the proposal, and maintain the rotating venue arrangement. He said: “I don’t think we should be embroiling the RSPBA into the pettiness of some North Down councillors.”
He added a UUP councillor believed the championship was “a Bangor event.” He said: “This is utter garbage. Both legacy councils have proud histories of hosting these events.
“Now the solution as I see it is we either run two events each year, or we alternate. It is wholly inappropriate for Bangor to hoover up all events and events funding - the desire for that to happen is not just inappropriate, it is embarrassing.” He added the location was “a matter for council.”
Alderman McIlveen added: “This is being brought simply because Bangor councillors haven’t learnt to share and recognise they are part of a larger borough. Let’s have a bit of maturity about this.”
His DUP counterpart Councillor for Bangor West Jennifer Gilmour said: “It isn’t the case of councillors getting it into their heads they are trying to stop it elsewhere, we are merely trying to get all the information before us to try and make an informed choice on what is the best way of spending ratepayers money.”
She said the costs in Newtownards were higher and businesses there spoke about the impact it had on their commerce.”
DUP Councillor for Bangor Central Alistair Cathcart said he was “taken aback” by Alderman McIlveen’s suggestion.
Cllr Cathcart added: “It went into a long stream of how awful Bangor and North Down councillors are.
“I then thought maybe I had read what we agreed at the committee wrong, that we had taken the decision to move the event firmly to Bangor. But that isn’t actually the case, it is just a proposal that we hear from the organisers of the event.
“Maybe they can explain to me why they fear listening to the organisers of the event, do they not think the information provided to them will be useful, in order for our council to make a determination? It seems a reasonable thing to request and a very odd thing to refuse.”
Independent Councillor for Bangor Central Ray McKimm said: “Those that continue to perpetuate that there is a division are creating and making the division itself. It seems to me we have descended into something like “who’s ball are we playing with, I’m going home."”
DUP Councillor for Newtownards Colin Kennedy said: “I have to express my amazement at the flood of enthusiasm for the Ulster Scots heritage of the area. Not once since this council was established have I heard one word of support from those who are now championing the removal of the competition from Ards. Not once have I heard them support Ulster Scots issues.
“The argument has to be made as to why we would desist from rotation. It is clear those who are attempting to reduce this event down to costs are attempting to push this council in a particular direction. It demeans the competition and the whole expression of Ulster Scots culture.”
The championship was cancelled in 2020, and in 2021 the council agreed it should be held with limited spectators in September in the McKee Clock Arena in Bangor. It returned to its full capacity last year in Ward park, Bangor.
The last time it was held in Newtownards was 2019. Attendance figures in 2019 and 2022 were around 5,000, with visitor spend in Newtownards £119,000, against £83,162 in Bangor.
The event is owned and organised by the RSPBANI, but the council bids and pays for the event to be held in the borough. The fee in 2019 and 2022 was £14,000 for the bid.
The total cost to the council for the 2019 Newtownards event was £29,967, while the total cost to the council for the 2022 Bangor event was £15,363.
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