Statement by TUV Bannside councillor and Deputy Presiding Councillor of Mid and East Antrim Council Timothy Gaston:
“At Tuesday night’s council meeting Sinn Fein sought to make a fuss about selling off the regalia and other historic items associated with the heritage of the legacy councils.”
“Maguire was totally out of order in the way in which he even sought to raise the point. Firstly, Sinn Fein failed to attend the Policy and Resource committee meeting at which this issue was discussed. That would have been the proper forum for them to raise any genuine issues they had about this matter. Secondly, when Maguire started to rant and rave about how much the council was supposedly losing out on by not selling the items, he did so while we were still ratifying the minutes. Had he at least waited until we reached the ‘matters arising’ he would have been procedurally correct – albeit still wrong.
“For example, The items associated with the heritage of each of the legacy councils are of considerable historic value and once they are gone they can never be replaced.”
“We have the chains of office worn by the Mayors of the previous three councils and some of the items associated with Carrickfergus dates back to the early 18th century.”
“I don’t believe that future generations would forgive us if we lost items of such historic value because of the whim of Sinn Fein.
“Sinn Fein may try to dress this up as concern for ratepayers and a desire to generate money for the new council but the reality is that it is motivated by nothing more than their narrow, bigoted ‘Brits Out’ mentality.
“It is obvious to me and all neutral observers is that what offends Republicans about the historic items associated with the legacy councils is that they are clear reminders that Northern Ireland is very much an integral part of the United Kingdom.
“TUV will vigorously oppose any attempt to sell off these invaluable pieces of history and will be proposing that they go on permanent display in Ballymena, Carrickfergus and Larne. We will also be encouraging the new council to put in place appropriate displays of ceremonial insignia and regalia which is appropriate and reflects the history and heritage of the new Mid and East Antrim Borough Council”