Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Bunting gets city council ban for four months
Links to far-right groups spark complaints
Far-right councillor Jolene Bunting was yesterday suspended from Belfast City Hall for four months.
An inquiry into complaints filed against the Independent will now be carried out.
Ms Bunting intends to appeal the decision and will “continue to tell the truth”. She said: “No one will silence me”.
Between last December and August, 14 complaints were made with one signed by 87 people and another by 79.
Many of the actions relate to her links with extremist groups such as Britain First and Generation Identity and her so-called UK Freedom rallies at City Hall.
At an interim hearing two weeks ago, Acting Commissioner Ian Gordon found Bunting breached the Local Government Code of Conduct. Now he has suspended her during the investigation due to the “frequent, ongoing repetitive and escalating nature of the alleged breaches of the Code”.
Council chief executive Suzanne Wylie, Lord Mayor Deirdre Hargey, Deputy Lord Mayor Emmett Mcdonagh Brown are among those to take action
SDLP Cllr Donal Lyons – who made one of the earliest complaints against Ms Bunting – said the Commissioner’s ruling “is an explicit acknowledgment that her actions were unacceptable”.
He added: “The volume of complaints took more than an hour to outline at the recent hearing. They dealt not just with an isolated incident but an ongoing pattern of behaviour.
“I raised this with the Commissioner several times during the year urging it to use its powers to take swift action and I’m glad it has now done so.
“No doubt we’ll hear her complain about her right to free speech but this was covered comprehensively in the report. No one has a right to incite hatred or put people in harms way.”
It has been predicted Ms Bunting would be “disqualified from standing” in next year’s local elections.