Council set to elect Sinn Fein Lord Mayor
Belfast is expected to elect its first Sinn Fein Lord Mayor when the city council holds its annual general meeting tonight.
A decision by the moderate Alliance Party to support Alex Maskey means that Sinn Fein should have enough votes to secure the post.
However, the three Alliance councillors have been under pressure from unionists to withdraw their support over allegations that the IRA has been involved in sectarian clashes in east Belfast.
David Alderdice, the Alliance leader on Belfast City Council, said the party’s decision to support Sinn Fein remained unchanged but the party would review the situation before tonight’s meeting.
Mr Alderdice and party leader David Ford held talks with Security Minister Jane Kennedy, who told them that the Government’s view was the IRA’s ceasefire remained intact.
‘‘At present our decision remains unchanged. We are keeping our decision under constant review. We obviously have major concerns about the level of street violence, the level of orchestration and grave concerns about the use of firearms,’’ he said.
Police chiefs have said loyalist and republican paramilitaries were behind the vicious rioting in east Belfast earlier this week which left 19 officers injured.
Assistant Chief Constable Alan McQuillan insisted the Ulster Defence Association, Ulster Volunteer Force and the IRA were all driving the violence.
‘‘On the loyalist side we see clear evidence that the UDA and UVF have been involved in this,’’ he said.
‘‘Certainly in terms of the street disorder on the republican side we have seen large numbers of members of the IRA, many of them from outside the area.
‘‘We believe that they are involved in organising the violence.’’
