Debate contribution: Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann

Debate contribution by Mr Brian Kingston on 14 September 2026.

MLA

Mr Brian Kingston

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

14 September 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5685959

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank the leader of the Opposition for tabling the motion, which has brought to the Chamber harmony and agreement, and that is good to see. Certainly, the fleadh that took place in Belfast last month was a great success overall. It brought great numbers of people into the city centre. I am not sure how well all retailers did, and I heard some say that their numbers were down. Just because people are on the street, it does not necessarily mean that they are in the shops. I heard that some businesses closed for the week because they thought that they would not have access for their customers. It will be interesting to hear an analysis of that. I assume that, in particular, the hospitality sector did very well. I understand that the fleadh is primarily a competition for Irish traditional music and, to some extent, dancing. Participants qualify through their regional heats to get to the final in the fleadh. As a cultural event, it overwhelmingly succeeded in keeping politics out of it. There were some negative exceptions, but, to my knowledge, there were very few such incidents. For those of us in Belfast who hear about the West Belfast Festival, including and justifying young people being led from the stage in pro-IRA chants in a council park every year, it was refreshing to know that Irish cultural events do not have to resort to the promotion of terrorism. The fleadh showed the féile how it can be done. It was a pleasure for me to attend the Belfast Bands Forum’s event on the Titanic slipway. It was a credit to the Belfast Bands Forum and the fleadh to demonstrate that the Ulster-Scots and Ulster-British tradition could take its place in the fleadh’s programme. Likewise, the fleadh demonstrates that Irish traditional music, culture and identity are an important part of Northern Ireland's culture and, indeed, the overall culture of the United Kingdom in all its diversity. For me, inclusion, not imposition, is the key. That is in stark contrast to Belfast City Council's disastrous Irish language street-sign policy, which was forced through by the Alliance Party and the nationalist parties. I hear Members tutting, but the problem with that policy is that, when streets are proposed for an Irish language street sign, residents are consulted, and, in many cases, the views of the majority are ignored, because Irish language street signs can be added with just 15% support. Indeed, in some cases, councillors add the signs where there is less than 15% support.

My remarks are relevant because it is about not imposing culture. That is what causes a reaction. Culture has to be something that people can share, that is inclusive and that does not cause resentment. I hope that that council policy will be changed. The motion also refers to a push for greater pedestrianisation of Belfast city centre. I understand that a certain populism is involved there. There is a case to be made for pedestrianisation, but it is important to recognise that access to the city centre is very important. Belfast city centre is a very important place in Northern Ireland. It is the centre of our capital city. It is the centre of our transport network. It is a major centre for retail, hospitality, hotels, education and entertainment, and it is a preferred location for many businesses, particularly international businesses, because they know that they can draw on the widest geographical range of employees travelling from their home. Ease of travel in and out of the city centre is therefore essential. Cars should certainly not travel through the old security zone, which is restricted. I support greater enforcement in order to prevent cars from driving through that restricted zone, unless they have special permission to do so. I will always advocate that north Belfast buses be allowed to travel up Royal Avenue and Donegall Place to City Hall in order to enable people with limited mobility to get off and access Castle Court, Primark, Boots and Marks and Spencer. If all the buses had to travel via Millfield, it would greatly reduce the frequency of the bus service. I welcome the fact that the fleadh was a positive experience for Belfast and a positive example for other events.

715 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Uncertain: close call Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 16:16 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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