Freedom of the Borough motion denied
Thursday, 2 October 2008
TWO former Limavady clergy will not be awarded the Freedom of the Borough, following a special meeting held at the local council offices on Monday night.
In order for the Freedom of the Borough to be granted, two thirds of councillors attending the meeting must agree with the motion, but this was not the case on Monday night when, of the 14 councillors present, only the eight Nationalists were in favour whilst the six Unionists councillors voted against it.
Prior to the vote, and seeking support for his motion, Councillor Michael Coyle stated: "I have great honour proposing this motion at a time when there are serious efforts being made to reflect on how we deal with the past and how we treat those affected by it.
“In bringing forward the motion, I am very conscious of the cost the troubles of the past has been on all sections of our community and in particular those who have lost lives.
“During the worst of times, there was a great sense of hopelessness in many parts of the North of Ireland, including Limavady. Lives were being lost, property was being destroyed and the values that we all aspire to were being systematically lost. The new Church of Christ the Kings was bombed and the Presbyterian Church opposite was also damaged.
“Out of that sense of despair, the Minister of that Presbyterian Church, the Rev David Armstrong together with Fr Kevin Mullan, curate at The Church of Christ the King, showed a remarkable sense of courage and leadership which inspired people from all over the world. In such circumstances, of course, courage does not come free and is often paid for at a price.
“David Armstrong, his wife and four children were lost to Limavady and it is now, I believe, time to reflect on that dreadful period, update our experiences of that time and pay tribute to the Armstrong family.
“Father Kevin Mullan also left Limavady and was present in the aftermath of the Omagh bomb which claimed the lives of 31 people on August 15 1998. The healing process is a painful experience - it is not easy but it is essential if the final draft of our troubled history records accurately the sense of love and friendship which hopefully will overwhelm the darkness of the past.
“In Limavady we should be leading by example and by granting the freedom of the borough, we will thank those councils that have highlighted and encouraged reconciliation as well as giving encouragement to those councils that have still to take those steps. In granting the Freedom of the Borough, we will be portraying Limavady in a positive light and will be showing the outside world our sense of appreciation for what these two clergymen have done, not only in the past, but over the last 20 years in different places where they continued their crusade to bring Catholics and Protestants together in a spirit of Christianity which offers hope and dispels despair wherever it continues to exist."
Sinn Fein members were keen to offer their support to motion, as Paddy Butcher said it was "now time to recognise the courage of the two clergy which was demonstrated almost a quarter of a century ago."
His party colleague, Anne Brolly said: "I think we are moving forward and it is time to show that we have matured. We are now living in a society which is multi cultural and has multi faiths - it is not just about Protestants and Catholics anymore. I hope everyone will support this."
The Mayor, Brenda Chivers brought the debate to a close by saying: "These men showed great courage at that time and I hope that we can do the same now."
Whilst Unionists members refused to speak during the debate, they did air their views after the meeting. Said Councillor Edwin Stevenson: "I believe that this motion was brought forward purely for political and cynical reasons and designed to embarrass the unionists. There was much tension, ill will and bad feeling when this incident occurred and I felt that we ran the risk of that happening again. Prior to the meeting, I had spoke to many people, including clergy from all denominations, and not one person said that this was a good idea. There have been no winners coming out of this meeting tonight."
His party colleague, Alderman Jack Rankin commented: "It was a party decision not to speak during the course of the meeting. I have given this motion serious consideration over the past few days but I was not convinced that they merit the freedom of the borough."
Meanwhile, the Deputy Mayor Alderman George Robinson and Councillor Alan Robinson released the following statement: "First of all, we would like to point out that we have nothing against either of the two clergy involved. Our sole reasons for taking a very careful considered decision not to support the notion are as follows - we think that this motion is very selective when we all know that other clergys from both sides of the political divide have, over the years of the troubles, done sterling work in administering pastoral support and comfort to lots of parishioners from terrorist attacks such as the Droppin' Well bombing, the Greysteel shooting and the Roemill Road bombing and various other atrocities and in deed, in their normal pastoral work. If we even widen out the very many worthy potentials such as the Fire Service, ambulance crews, doctors, nurse, security force personnel, school teachers etc, where does the list end? We could potentially open the flood gates for many requests for Freedom of the Borough to be given and, if they were all granted, that would take away the prestige of the accolade."
