Agenda item

The Committee considered the following report:

 

“1.0     Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

 

1.1       To seek the approval of Members on the proposed governance, delivery and content for the Decade of Centenaries Programme.

 

 

2.0       Recommendations

 

2.1       That the Decade of Centenaries commemoration programme be delivered by the Good Relations Unit with the governance emanating from the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, the Shared City Partnership and party group leaders.

 

2.2       That all other Commemoration proposals and projects be dealt with by the Historic Working Group, with Good Relations input as required, where any potential commemorative activity is of a sensitive nature.

 

2.3       To agree the proposed Decade of Centenaries programme for delivery over the coming 6 years. The programme includes activity within the current Council term, with agreement in principle on activity to be delivered following the Council elections in 2019. Any activity agreed for beyond 2019, would be reviewed at that stage.

 

3.0       Main report

 

3.1       The Members will be aware of the programme of work in relation to the Decade of Centenaries, which has been ongoing since 2011. The Decade of Centenaries was considered by the Diversity Working Group until March of this year, when that group ceased. Following this a Historic Working Group (HWG) was created to ‘prioritise historic events and related issues. That would mean a move away from a Good Relations focus, with Good Relations primarily being discussed by Party Leaders and the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee.’

 

3.2       The HWG met on 3 August and agreed the following Terms of Reference:

 

·        to consider how the Council can maximise and promote the historic richness of legacies and assets of Belfast;

·        to develop a long term plan to celebrate, promote and commemorate our historic assets and events

·        to apply the agreed core set of principles established to commemorate any events;

·        to advise on the detailed decade of centenaries programme once agreed via Party Leaders and Strategic Policy and Resources Committee; and

·        to make recommendations to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee regarding the issues above.

 

3.3       The Committee will know that the Council delivers an annual District Council Good Relations programme which includes a work stream on Decade of Centenaries. Since the beginning of the Centenaries period, the Good Relations Unit has been the main council unit responsible for the delivery this work.

 

3.4       Members will also be aware that the Shared City Partnership (SCP), formerly the Good Relations Partnership, is a working group of council established to advise on good relations issues. This group is also the formal mechanism for consideration of PEACE IV proposals.

 

3.5       On this basis it is considered more appropriate for the Shared City Partnership, rather than the Historic Working Group to oversee the Decade of Centenaries programme since this programme has clear good relations outcomes. This would take Decade of Centenaries out of the remit of the Historic Working Group and remove this remit from the HWG’s terms of reference thus avoiding duplication. However, all other commemorative activity, outside of the Decade of Centenaries programme, would sit within the remit of the HWG.

 

3.6       In support of this, the PEACE IV local action plan also contains a community focused piece of work in relation to the Decade of Centenaries, which again will be driven out of the Councils overall Good Relations work. There is clear benefit in keeping all of this work co-ordinated through the one governance mechanism.

 

3.7       As a working group of council, all Shared City Partnership recommendations require approval by The Strategic policy and Resources Committee (SP&R). Officers also recommend that all potentially sensitive elements of the Decade of Centenaries programme would be brought first to the Party Group Leaders to consider before being brought to SCP and then to SP&R for approval. 

 

3.8       Future Programme

 

            In 2011, Members of the then Historic Centenaries Working Group had agreed a three phased approach to the Decade of Centenaries, divided into 3 phases. The first period, 1912-1914, was entitled ‘Shared History, Differing Allegiances’. The second period, 1914-1918, would cover the period of World War I, including the Somme and the Easter Rising. This activity, under the banner of ‘Belfast; Reflections on 1916’ was hugely successful. The third period, 1918-1922, would cover the end of WWI, the 1918 elections and the establishment of parliaments in Belfast and Dublin.

 

3.9       Major exhibitions were commissioned for the Covenant, the Somme and the Easter Rising and that there was a Civic Dinner to mark each of these three major historical events. All of this activity, and more, has been delivered thus far.

 

3.10     At the August 2016 meeting of the Diversity Working Group, Members requested that officers develop a programme for the remainder of the Decade, until 2022.  

 

3.11     In line with the request of Members, a programme was developed, in consultation with the Parties and the Diversity Working Group for consideration regarding the key events to be delivered for the remainder of the Decade of Centenaries; 1917 – 1922. The proposals sit within a number of themes and contain a series of events to be delivered within each theme (see appendices 1 and 2)

 

3.12     Central to the events programme, Members also requested that in addition to continuing with the previously agreed Decade of Centenaries Principles, the following would also apply:

 

-       Activity being planned would continue with the objective of having a strong Belfast focus, exploring the human stories of lost lives and be respectful.

-       The current Principles, agreed in 2011, will inform all activity within the final phase of the Decade of Centenaries

 

3.13     In discussions with Party Group Leaders, they requested that officers also explore the possibility of delivering a large exhibition covering the themes within appendix 1 during this final phase of the Decade of Centenaries.

 

3.14     With the ceasing of the Diversity Working Group, Party Group Leaders agreed to the delivery of year one of the programme (appendix 3), with the May and June elements to be resourced through the Good Relations Action Plan. Subsequent to this, the Budget Panel agreed to the financing of the remainder of the 2017 – 2018 programme at its June meeting. Officers are undertaking work in relation to the delivery of these activities.

 

3.15     While parties have been consulted and involved in developing the proposed themes and programmes for 2018 – 2022, no approval has been granted to deliver these yet.

 

 

3.16     Financial and Resource Implications

 

            All programme activity for the 2017/2018 financial year is fully funded. No agreement on funding beyond March 2018 has been made. Potential costings are detailed in appendix 2 and would need to be considered through the estimate setting process.

 

3.17     Equality or Good Relations Implications

 

            The Decade of Centenaries programme is included within the Good Relations Action Plan, which was screened out following an Equality Screening exercise.”

 

 

Appendix 1:  Proposed themes from 1917 – 1922

 

            In preparing the programme of events and activities for 1916, Members had requested that any Council activity should focus on the following elements:

 

-      That any activity would have a strong Belfast focus

-      That the human stories of lost lives would be explored, as a common thread

-      That commemoration activity would be respectful

 

Thematic approach:

 

      Following consultations with Parties in 2016 and early 2017 the following significant events are being suggested for inclusion within the remainder of the Decade under a number of themes, as follows:

 

1. Politics and Parliaments.

The Irish Convention of August 1917 – March 1918. The Convention met in City Hall. General Election of 1918. First meeting of Dáil Eireann in the Mansion House in January 1919.

 

2. The end of World War I.

Post war Belfast, changing roles, injury, trauma and loss. Treaty of Versailles. European Borders redrawn.

 

3. The politicisation of women

In 1918, women over 30 had the vote for the first time in a General Election. First woman MP elected. Women in the Trade Union movement.

 

4. Labour must wait.

Both in Ulster and in the rest of Ireland, advances in the labour movement had to take second place to the constitutional issues of the day.

 

 

5. Violence, conflict, militarisation and displacement.

Between July 1920 and September 1922, Belfast experienced a series of outbreaks of rioting, violence and killing, resulting in huge loss of life and displacement of people from neighbourhoods across the City. 450 people died violently during this period. In October 1920, the Ulster Special Constabulary was founded and by 1922, the A, B and C specials numbered 32,000. On the 22nd June 1922, the RUC was founded.

 

6. The Kings Speech

June 1921, opening of the new Northern Ireland Parliament at City Hall by King George V. In his speech, he called on Irishmen ‘to forgive and forget and to seek for the land loved a new era of peace, contentment and good will’.

 

7. Anglo Irish Treaty. Partition of Ulster; Partition of Ireland

In February 1920, the Government of Ireland Act (4th Home Rule Bill) provided for the setting up of two parliaments on the island. The Kings speech of 1921 was seen as paving the way for the truce on the 11th July 1921 in the Anglo-Irish war, leading directly to the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations.

 

            These themes incorporate similar popular themes that have been woven through the Council’s Decade of Centenaries Programmes over the first two phases: Women, the Labour movement, Politics, conflict, the social life of the City, as well as forthcoming key momentous events such as the opening of the new NI Parliament in City Hall. The themes, with a strong Belfast connection, could be reflected through any style of activity similar to the first two phases, such as talks, lectures, exhibitions and drama.

 

 

Appendix 2: Outline activity and broad costs for programme from 2017 – 2022

 

Based on previous programmes the following indicative costs would be required in the delivery of work around the Decade of Centenaries over the period covered by the proposals in this report.

 

Politics and Parliaments.

 

Activity	Date	Potential cost
An exploration of the Irish Convention of August. (Talk/lecture) Possible re-enactment of the Convention, using drama and use of the Council Chamber as a venue, subject to agreement and approval	October 2017	£10,000
An analysis of the General Election of 1918 and the First meeting of Dáil Eireann in the Mansion House in January 1919. (Talk/Lecture)	January 2018	£2,500

 

 

 

The end of World War I.

 

Activity	Date	Potential cost
End of the First World War (Talk/lecture/candle event)	November 2018	£1,500
Belfast after the First World War (Talk/lecture)	November 2018	£1,500
Europe after the First World War (Talk/lecture)	February 2019	£1,500

 

The politicisation of women

 

Activity	Date	Potential cost
Women and politics in post war Belfast, Representation of the People Act Feb 1918 (Talk and drama evening)	February 2018	£2,500

 

Labour must wait.

 

Activity	Date	Potential cost
Evening event on “Labour must wait”, to explore the interface between the labour movement and the constitutional priorities of the day for Unionism and Nationalism. (Talk and drama evening)	May 2019	£2,500

 

Violence, conflict, militarisation and displacement.

 

Activity	Date	Potential cost
Militarisation. The early years of the RUC. Relocation of personnel. Establishment of the Special constabulary (Talk/lecture)	Oct 2020	£1,500
Violence, conflict and displacement in Belfast from 1920 – 1922 (Talk/lecture)	April 2021	£1,500

 

The Kings Speech

 

Activity	Date	Potential cost
Re-enactment of the Official Opening of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, using the Council Chamber	June 2021	£5,000

 

Anglo Irish Treaty. Partition of Ulster; Partition of Ireland

 

Activity	Date	Potential cost
War, treaty and the Craig Collins Pact (Talk and drama evening)	November 2021	£2,500
An exploration of the impact of partition on Northern Nationalists and Ulster Unionists within Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal (Talk/lecture)	February 2022	£1,500
The end of the Decade of Centenaries (Conference)	March 2022	£5,000

 

            The costs could be borne by the Council’s District Council’s Good Relations Programme, which is 75% funded by the Executive Office and core Council costs.

 

            An exhibition to capture the above themes into one exhibit would cost in the region of £60,000, based on previous experience. A suitable timeframe for this has been identified as being best delivered within the period 2019 – 2021, but incorporating all of the themes within the whole of the third phase. There is currently no resource for this.

 

            Previous Civic Dinners have cost in the region of £20,000 each. Currently there are no plans for any civic dinners in the final phase.

 

 

Appendix 3 – Programme delivered in this financial year

 

At Budget Panel and subsequently at the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee meeting on the 24th March 2017, agreement was reached on a series of events and activities to be delivered within the 2017 – 2018 financial year, as follows:

 

Theme:           Politics and Parliaments

 

Activity	Date	Potential cost
An exploration of the Irish Convention of August. (Talk/lecture)/Possible re-enactment of the Convention, using drama and use of the Council Chamber as a venue, subject to agreement and approval	October 2017	£10,000
An analysis of the General Election of 1918 and the First meeting of Dáil Eireann in the Mansion House in January 1919. (Talk/Lecture)	January 1918	£2,500

 

Theme:           The End of World War I.

 

Activity	Date	Potential cost
Battle of Messines and Passchendaele	May/June 2017	£4,000
The World and the First World War- Russian Revolutions (Talk/lecture)	November 2017	£1,000

 

 

 

Theme:           The Politicisation of Women

 

Activity	Date	Potential cost
Women and politics in post war Belfast (Talk and drama evening)	February 2018	£3,000

 

Events around the Battle of Messines and Passchendaele were delivered by external organisations, namely the 36th Ulster Division Memorial Association and the Fellowship of Messines Association in May and June this year. Members will also be aware that at its August meeting, it approved a small sum of money for a series of events to be delivered later on in the year by Clifton House. This was funded through the Good Relations Action Plan.

 

The remaining events, which are being delivered by the Council are as follows:

 

1.     The Irish Convention of 1917-1918: The Last Hope of Averting Partition? Thursday 26th October 2017, 6.30pm, Council Chamber.

 

2.     The Russian Revolutions and World War I; Monday 27th November 2017, 6.30pm, Banqueting Hall.

 

3.     An analysis of the General Election of 1918 and the first meeting of Dáil Eireann in the Mansion House in January 1919; Thursday 18th January 2018, 6.30pm, Banqueting Hall.

 

4.     The Representation of the People Act 1918, and its impact on women in politics; Thursday 8th February 2018, 6.30pm.

 

 

            The Committee adopted the recommendations.