Plans to light up Belfast City Hall in honour of “International Safe Abortion Day” appear to have failed, following a petition against the controversial decision that gained over 20,000 signatures.
City Hall was set to be illuminated in green on Monday following a decision in which Sinn Féin, the Alliance, the SDLP and the Green Party voted against the DUP on the matter 11 to 3.
Pro-life groups The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) and Precious Life opposed the move with Bernadette Smyth, Director of Precious Life, describing the planned illuminations as a “diabolical celebration of abortion”.
The vote was called following a request from the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWC), which said it was “deeply disappointed” by the decision not to light up City Hall.
The illumination of City Hall was stopped as a result of a “call in” by members of the DUP. A call in effectively means a council decision is subjected to a legal review to examine whether it was made using improper procedures or could have a disproportionate impact on a specific segment of the community.
A petition against the decision was launched by Precious Life and eventually gained over 20,000 signatures. It said that public resources should “not be used to promote and celebrate the killing of unborn babies”, and suggested that such a move was divisive.
“City Hall should be a symbol of Belfast, not a billboard for abortion,” the petition argued.
These arguments were echoed by Catholic Bishop Alan McGuckian, who had asked to meet councillors to discuss the issue and stated that City Hall was meant to be a shared civic space that “should unite rather than divide”.
