Agenda item

            The Committee considered the following report:

 

“1.0      Purpose of Report

 

1.1       The purpose of this report is to: 

 

-       provide an update on progress concerning the Decade of Centenaries Programme 2021; and

 

-       provide further information on how the Council can mark the 80th anniversary of the Belfast Blitz on 15th April 2021in the context of Covid-19 restrictions.

 

2.0       Recommendations

 

2.1       The Committee is requested to:

 

                                          i.     note that Council has received £87,700 from the Shared History Fund, which is being  by distributed by the National Lottery Heritage Fund towards the Council’s  Decade of Centenaries Programme;

 

                                         ii.     consider the proposals contained in the report to mark the 80th anniversary of the Belfast Blitz on 15th April 2021 with regard to the use of searchlights at City Hall and note the challenges in securing the use of the siren;

 

                                       iii.     consider turning off the lights at City Hall on 15th April 2021, as referred to the Committee from the Council meeting on 1st March 2021; and

 

                                       iv.     agree an amount of up to £800 towards the use of the searchlights/equipment on 15th April 2021.

 

3.0       Main Report

 

            Decade of Centenaries Programme

 

3.1       At the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee on 19th February 2021, Members were advised that an application requesting £87,700 had been submitted to the Shared History Fund which is being distributed by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The application was seeking funding for 4 projects which had been agreed by Council as part of the Decade of Centenaries Programme ; namely:

 

-       Drama and animation programme in mid June 2021

-       The restoration of the chairs in the Council Chamber, used by the King and Queen on the occasion of the inauguration of the NI Parliament in 1921

-       A digitised artefacts and stories project related to 1921 and;

-       A time capsule project

 

3.2       Members are advised that the Council’s application to the Fund has been successful, with the full amount requested being granted. Officers have already began work on the implementation of these projects.

 

3.3       Members may wish to note that a panel discussion is being organized for March 26, from 12 noon – 2pm on the topic: ‘100 Years of Northern Ireland; How Has It Gone?’ This event is being run by ND Events and Tara Mills from the BBC has agreed to be our moderator.

 

            The panel for this event will consist of the following:

 

o   Lord Paul Bew, Chair of the Centenary Historical Advisory Panel

o   Professor Mary E. Daly, UCD and Royal Irish Academy

o   Professor Thomas Hennessey, Professor of Modern British and Irish History, Canterbury Christchurch University.

o   Dr. Marie Coleman, School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics, Queens University Belfast.

o   Dr. Seán Byers, Researcher at Trademark Belfast and author of a number of pieces on trade unions, economic and political strategies

 

3.4       Each of the panel members have been asked to focus the topic from a particular angle.

 

            Registration for this event is here:

 

            https://ndevents.co.uk/bcccentenariesprogramme/ 

 

            80th Anniversary of the Belfast Blitz

 

3.5       At the last meeting of the Committee, Members agreed that in the current environment,  and given that the Northern Ireland War Memorial (NIWM) are organising a range of creative activities including online lectures, work with schools, reminiscence projects which will reach a wider audience , Council would take the approach of supporting and promoting the programme in the following ways:

 

·        Subject to restrictions, the Lord Mayor will take part in the annual laying of wreaths ceremony at City Cemetery and Milltown Cemetery on 15th April, on behalf of Council if small gatherings are permitted.

 

·        Lord Mayor to launch and/or promote the activities being planned around the anniversary.

 

 

·        Council Communications Team will liaise with the NIWM to ensure we promote the events and Lord Mayor could record an appropriate message as part of this promotion.

 

·        The NI War Memorial is planning to deliver reminiscence resource packs to care homes to mark the 80th anniversary. Council will liaise with the Museum to publicise the activity packs and the Lord Mayor will be involved in some capacity to be determined.

 

3.6       The Council also agreed to contribute up to £1,000 towards the printing costs of the school and care home packs.

 

3.7       Officers were asked to explore the possibility of including an air raid siren/searchlight within the programme and bring a report back to the Committee.

 

3.8       The Council has engaged with War Years Remembered who had previously provided an air raid siren and a searchlight for the 75th anniversary. However, while willing to be of help, at the time of writing, the organisation are not in a position to confirm if they can supply the equipment at this stage and Officers are still awaiting potential costs. The air raid siren which they previously supplied would only be heard in the environs of the City Hall grounds and the searchlight provided would not require permission from the Aviation Authority.

 

3.9       As a further option, officers have sourced a company which could provide two searchlights on the evening which could be seen across Belfast at a cost of £500. These would be more powerful than the previous searchlight used and would require that notice be given to the Aviation Authority.

 

3.10      In addition, at the March Council meeting, it was agreed that consideration would be given at the next meeting of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee to turning off the lights at the City Hall on 15th April to mark the anniversary.

 

3.11      Should Members approve the above action, the lights at the City Hall could be turned off at an appropriate time and the searchlights be turned on for a period of time which would be a significant visual representation for the commemoration of the anniversary.

 

3.12      Members may wish to note that the NIWM are also in the process of producing a Blitz Walking Tour booklet which will contain QR codes where information about the Blitz can be downloaded and the tour includes the NIWM, St Anne’s cathedral among others, with the tour finishing at City Hall. Copies of the booklet will be made available at the City Hall to enhance the visitor offering.

 

            Equality and Good Relations Implications

 

3.13      There are no equality or good relations implications associated with this event.

 

            Financial and Resource Implications

 

3.14      £1,000 has already been agreed from existing budgets and up to an additional £800 could also be covered from existing budgets for the above occasion.”

 

            After discussion, the Committee:

 

                            i.          noted that the Council had received £87,700 from the Shared History Fund, which was being distributed by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, towards the Council’s Decade of Centenaries Programme;

 

                          ii.          agreed to mark the 80th anniversary of the Belfast Blitz on 15th April with searchlights and an air raid siren at the City Hall, subject to appropriate equipment being sourced by Council officers;

 

                         iii.          agreed to turn off the lighting at the City Hall on 15th April; and

 

                         iv.          agreed to allocate an amount of up to £800 towards the use of the searchlights/equipment on 15th April.