Two orange lodges in Ards and North Down Borough have failed in their applications for public funding for July twelfth events despite the local council controversially bending its policy to allow lodges inclusion in the process.
Lodges in Bangor and Comber both failed to reach the scoring required to get public funding for July events, despite the local authority going against its own guidelines to accommodate them.
In May, Unionist elected representatives in Ards and North Down Council pushed through a decision to allow Comber District Loyal Orange Lodge and Bangor District Loyal Orange Lodge to apply for up to £20,000 each from the Ards and North Down Events and Festivals Fund.
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This was despite council officers recommending elected representatives to reject the request from both lodges, as the applications were “ineligible for scoring.” The council report referred to applications being not accepted from “any event/festival that is perceived to support or promote any religious or political dimension.”
Independent Unionist Councillor Wesley Irvine, himself a member of the Orange Order, proposed the council deemed the lodges eligible for funding, with a scoring process to be held “at the earliest opportunity.”
25 elected members from the DUP, UUP, unionist independents and from the Green party supported the proposal, while 10 from Alliance and the Green Party voted against the proposal. The Greens were the only party split on the matter, with two voting in favour, and one against. The council’s only nationalist politician, SDLP Councillor Joe Boyle, was absent from the vote.
However, this week at the first full meeting of the council since May’s local election, it emerged the two lodges had their applications considered and neither had met the scoring criteria.
The council report states: “Bangor District LOL 18’s application is for a “Boyne anniversary event on July 12th in Ward park, Bangor, and is seeking £12,050. The panel scored the application against the agreed scoring matrix. The application scored 38.2 percent therefore failed to meet the required pass mark set of 55 percent.
“Comber District LOL 15’s application for a “Celebration of Orange Culture” event from July 10 to 12th in Park Way Playing Fields, Comber, and is seeking £5,500. The panel scored the application against the agreed scoring matrix. The application scored 40 percent therefore failed to meet the required pass mark set of 55 percent.”
It added: “The council has an appeals procedure and unsuccessful applicants can apply within the designated time frame.”
Ards and North Down Council has set aside £175,000 for the events and festivals fund, and is expecting £31,400 in match funding from the Stormont Department for Communities. DfC stated in its letter of offer the council must “ensure that all events funded promote the principles of inclusion and comply with equality requirements.”
At the council meeting this week, Alderman Stephen McIlveen told the chamber: “Just because we agree with something being marked doesn’t necessarily mean we are going to disagree with what the marking process was. Clearly those who complete the forms in this instance probably should seek to see where they went wrong, because these are two absolutely fantastic events.
“I don’t think anyone would argue with that in terms of the numbers of people they draw into the borough. It is not very often we have the two events in the borough on the same day.”
He added: “It is very disappointing that unfortunately they have failed to get the requisite pass mark, but it is possible that lessons can be learned by the districts in terms of the application process.”
Councillor Wesley Irvine asked for a review of the new policy position regarding the Ards and North Down Events and Festivals Fund, which was agreed by the chamber. He said: “The knock on effect of this is that planned activities throughout this day will have to be cancelled or scaled back.”
He added: “There are groups that do not have the necessary expertise, that are not professional organisations, and don’t have paid employees to be able to look at the score matrix in a particularly detailed manner. If we as a council want community and volunteer groups to grow, and make events better for the general public, as well as making them more inclusive and diverse, we have to work alongside them.”
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