Belfast Councillors reject Armed Forces Covenant as issue splits chamber

Michael Kenwood, Local Democracy Reporter, Belfast Telegraph, February 8th, 2025

A proposal that would have signed Belfast City Council up to a scheme supporting past and present Army members has been rejected by nationalist councillors.

The Armed Forces Covenant dominated a council meeting this week with members voting on the measure.

Votes from nationalist representatives outnumbered the combined votes of unionists and the Alliance Party, with 29 councillors from Sinn Fein, SDLP and People Before Profit opposing the call for the local authority to “sign up to the Armed Forces Covenant immediately”.

That was one more than the 28 elected members from unionist parties, and Alliance, who supported the motion brought by DUP Alderman James Lawlor.

Two Green Party members abstained.

The motion stated that Belfast City Council “recognises the unique skills held by Armed Forces service leavers and recognises that many veterans can face disadvantages compared to the general population, arising from military life, when accessing services”.

The covenant sets out two principles. The first is that those who serve in the armed forces, whether regular or reserve, those who have served in the past and their families, should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services.

Veterans could be at disadvantage accessing public services

The second is that special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have been injured and bereaved. The intention of the pledge specifically relates to issues around housing, education and healthcare in line with The Armed Forces Act 2006 — a UK-wide legislation that imposes a statutory duty upon specified bodies to have due regard to the covenant.

At a committee meeting last week, Sinn Fein and the SDLP successfully blocked a decision to sign up to the initiative after an equality screening found it was “a divisive issue”.

The report concluded the covenant is “likely to have a minor impact” on promoting equality and good relations on the basis of religious and political beliefs.

“This is on the basis that the legacy of the conflict is still very much evident in some areas throughout Belfast and the signing of the Armed Forces Covenant may be a divisive issue,” it stated.

Councillors were urged to consider the contents and determine, once again, whether they wished to adopt the motion to sign up to the Armed Forces Covenant. Officials noted that while the signing of the covenant required no further screening, any future decisions involving ratepayers' money being spent on anything related to the signing of the covenant would face further equality screening.

It follows a row in January when a full council meeting at Belfast City Hall saw Sinn Fein call in a vote due to concerns about procedure after a vote from one of the party's councillors was not accepted by a council solicitor.

The DUP motion passed on a knife edge that evening, with Alliance Lord Mayor Micky Murray casting the deciding ballot.

The passage of the motion paved the way for the initial equality assessment to ascertain if a public consultation was necessary.

But Sinn Fein and the SDLP again blocked the motion at the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee meeting, forcing it back onto the agenda at this month's full council meeting.