Derry councillors dismiss charging for Halloween event

During Tuesday’s committee meeting Sinn Féin councillor Grace Uí Niallais said her party would not support the reports recommendation to introduce charges over potential equality implications.

She said “Affordability for everyone is different and so it is very hard to say there is no equality impact.”

UUP councillor Darren Guy said that he did not think that a charge was unreasonable but that he was “sitting on the fence” over the issue.

He said that parts of the walls where it was being proposed introducing charges for could be seen from nearby streets and that “charging for that section of the walls if you are not going to cover it completely defeats the purpose”.

Meanwhile, SDLP councillor Rory Farrell said his party was against the proposal as it might create a two-tier system for those who could afford to pay and those who couldn’t.

DUP Councillor Julie Middleton said that due to her “personal convictions” she did not celebrate Halloween.

However, she said some constituents who enjoyed the festivities were asking what was going to be different if they had to pay this year from previous years when it had been free.