Linen Hall Library is to receive £175,000 “emergency money” from Belfast City Council, despite opposition from Sinn Féin.
This week at City Hall, elected representatives agreed to an “ad hoc” fund to help the city’s oldest library, which is also the third oldest library on the island of Ireland.
While no councillor gave details of the level of emergency facing Linen Hall Library at the full monthly meeting for February, elected representatives referred to the fund as “saving” the institution, while others said the library was facing an “emergency”.
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On Monday January 27, during a secret session away from the public and press at the council’s Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, a presentation and request was made by the Linen Hall Library under so-called “restricted items”.
No details of what was said at the meeting by representatives from the library or by elected representatives have been published by the council, but in the minutes of the meeting published this week, it was revealed that there were two votes on the request.
The first was on a Sinn Féin proposal that the committee agree to refuse the request submitted by the Linen Hall Library. On the vote, eight elected members voted for the proposal and ten against, and so it was declared lost.
The second was on a proposal forwarded by Alliance and seconded by the SDLP, that the committee agrees to “approve the request for funding of a one-off investment of £175,000 that would assist the Linen Hall Library in continuing to operate as it develops a new business model to make it more sustainable and resilient, subject to due diligence being undertaken”.
On a vote, eleven elected members voted for this proposal and eight against, and it was declared carried.
At the full monthly meeting of Belfast City Council, held this week, Sinn Féin Councillor Ronan McLaughlin said: “One particular organisation is looking approximately £175,000 from the council, without going through any form of application process, by simply writing a letter to the Chief Executive, and that letter being submitted to a committee.
“Certainly we don’t view this as a good and appropriate use of public money, when there has been no open process, no transparency, and no fund set up to look at this. Other (political) parties, when ad hoc requests have (previously) come in, have said we need a structure, and that structure was created.
“That is where the discretionary funding came through, where organisations were able to demonstrate through an open and transparent process they were able to show the level of need, and they were scored and awarded the funding.”
He added: “This organisation is a very noble organisation within the city. In previous debates we have talked about equality, but where is the equality for other organisations that have put in requests to the Chief Executive? Organisation who have been told no, there is no funding available, or diverted to diversionary funding.”
He said Sinn Féin would continue to object, but would not bring the matter to another vote. He warned the chamber: “Just one word of caution to other councillors around this room - you can expect the Chief Executive to get a lot more requests like this.”
Alliance Councillor Sam Nelson said: “We will be supporting this funding because we think it is critical to saving the organisation. This is not about treating them differently to any other people, what we have suggested is we use the underspend from the discretionary scheme to deliver some emergency help for the organisation to stay afloat.
“The discretionary funding has gone out twice for open call, organisations have had ample time to apply, and there is now an underspend there. We have received this urgent request to save what is a really important institution in our city, something that helped shape our city into what it is today.
“It was responsible for leading Enlightenment thought in the city, and has a really important history and cultural value. It is in trouble, and we can help it.
“Re-allocating underspend is something we do routinely, whenever we are making decisions in the council. We have supported other organisations before, in helping them become sustainable - we have a good record for that.”
He said the funding was “absolutely critical for a very valuable asset to the city,” and added it would “be an absolute tragedy to lose.”
DUP Councillor Sarah Bunting said: “I agree with Councillor Nelson. This is a vital organisation for this city, which has been providing historical and cultural significance for over 200 years.
"This is the first time they have come to us with a request like this - the support is to allow them to regroup, and to put a new plan in place to ensure that they can support themselves moving forward.” She said the council discretionary funding was for “smaller amounts” and said it would be “very detrimental to this city” if the funding was not given.
Sinn Féin Councillor Ciaran Beattie said: “No one is doubting this organisation and the value it has for the city. The point (we are) making is the hypocrisy in relation to previous proposals from organisations around funding.
“If you look at some examples, Belfast Hills, who look after the mountains that overlook Belfast, which is hugely important - they were told no, there has to be a fund set up, and groups had to apply through an open and transparent process, which we all agreed with.
“We had West Wellbeing, who in fairness People Before Profit were mostly pushing, a group that deals with issues around mental health, and they were told no, that they had to go through a process, which they didn’t apply to.
“In October the West Belfast Partnership Board wrote in and were told no, there has to be a fund set up. That didn't even come to committee.
“What they wanted to do was buy a derelict building in one of the most deprived areas in Europe to try and transform it into an opportunity for that neighbourhood to create jobs and tackle poverty and deprivation. They didn’t get the same privilege to go to committee for a decision.
“Yet when another organisation writes in looking for £176,000 it is 'no problem, just write them a cheque'. Without any due diligence, without anything at all.
“That is what we are pointing out, there is an inequality when it comes to funding allocation in this council. And it suits some parties sometimes, and it doesn't suit them other times.”
SDLP Councillor Carl Whyte said that while his party supported the fund, the Linen Hall Library’s method of request, namely approaching the council Chief Executive John Walsh, was “misguided”. The Green Party, UUP and People Before Profit also said they would support the ad hoc fund.
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