TUV man clashes with Sinn Fein counterpart at heated council debate over port staff
A Sinn Fein councillor said he no longer considers one of his unionist colleagues a “d***head” during a heated argument at Mid and East Antrim Borough Council.
However, James Mckeown did say that TUV counterpart Timothy Gaston was “fairly worth the comic value he brings to this chamber”.
Tensions in the chamber were high on Monday night as councillors debated holding an investigation into information given to them before they unanimously voted to remove council staff working at Larne Port earlier this month.
While the row raged on, Mr Gaston noted that Mr Mckeown had once called him a “d***head”.
Mr Gaston said the motion before councillors “wouldn’t even make good kindling never mind an independent investigation” and noted the leaking of confidential information to the media.
“I certainly wouldn’t regard myself as a tout as ‘Carnlough Jimmy’ can well adhere to and be aware of,” the Bannside councillor said.
“Back in January 2016 the Carnlough representative in this chamber called me a d***head; he didn’t have the guts to admit it on that night when I called him out. My question would be — is he going to come on tonight and own up or is he going to hide behind the hedges like he did in his ‘provisional’ days?”
The 2016 row broke out over links from the council’s website to external organisations such as the Reserve Forces and Cadets’ Association.
Mr Mckeown, who is based in the Carnlough area, later admitted making the remark off microphone, but said he was provoked due to Mr Gaston’s repeated comments linking Sinn Fein councillors to the IRA.
Speaking on Monday evening, Mr Gaston also noted that the council reported him to the Northern Ireland Local Government Commissioner for Standards
after he disclosed sensitive commercial information during an open council meeting in February 2019.
The TUV councillor was forced to apologise for the remarks last year. He called for similar action to be taken against those found to be leaking information about the situation around Larne Port.
Mr Mckeown attempted to intervene to respond to the comments from Mr Gaston with “a clarification”, but Mayor Peter Johnston made it clear it was not his turn to speak.
However, the Sinn Fein councillor spoke over the DUP councillor, saying: “I no longer consider him (Gaston) a d***head but he is fairly worth the comic value he brings to this chamber.”
The motion calling for an independent investigation was defeated by 26 votes to 11, with one abstention.
On February 1, council staff were withdrawn from port inspection duties over “concerns for their safety and welfare” following “an upsurge in sinister and menacing behaviour”.
Police later said they had found no evidence of “credible threats” against staff and they returned to their posts.
It has been alleged the threat was exaggerated due to unionist unhappiness with the Northern Ireland Protocol, which has led to increased checks on goods travelling from Great Britain to the region.
The protocol has angered unionists who believe that by keeping Northern Ireland aligned with EU trade rules, it has cut it off from the rest of the UK.
Mr Gaston told the Belfast Telegraph that while his primary motivation in voting to remove staff was their safety, he also took the opportunity to do the right thing for “the bigger picture of unionism”.
“First and foremost the safety of the staff is paramount and the main focus,” he said. “But even though I had concerns about the legitimacy of the information we were given, I certainly took the opportunity to show that the staff could be removed. The element of that I want the staff out anyway certainly rested my decision.
“If the shoe was on the other foot in a different scenario I would have still voted to remove the staff, because if there was still safety concerns they needed to be addressed.”
The TUV councillor said he would be in favour of the permanent removal of staff to bring the issues around the protocol “to a head politically”. “I would have far rather we took that decision on the political will of the chamber because of the protocol to withdraw the staff,” he said.