DUP End Their Boycott of Council Equality Group

The DUP has officially ended a seven month boycott of a council’s equality group.

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council’s (NMDDC) five elected DUP members stepped away from Equality and Good Relations Reference Group (EGRRG) in June 2025, on concerns over a new Irish language policy.

A DUP statement was released to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) this week following the full council meeting (Jan 12) as the party rejoined the equality group..

Rowallane DUP councillor Callum Bowsie said: “The DUP welcomes increased unionist representation on NMDDC’s Good Relations group.

“Given that the purpose of the group is to foster ‘good relations’ within the district regarding contentious issues, it is important both sides of the community are heard.

“Our proposal was agreed in full council this evening (Jan 12) and representation on the EGRRG will now be as follows: 2 Sinn Fein, 2 SDLP, 2 DUP, 2 Alliance, 1 UUP and 1 Independent.”

DUP members removed themselves from the EGRRG until further notice, over an approval of an Irish language policy, after six years of discussions on bi-lingual signs resulted in non-agreement at the equality group.

NMDDC later agreed for an Ulster-Scots policy in November amid a request by other parties for the DUP boycott to end.

A recent public consultation gained almost 445 responses with 80% of people agreeing the council had a role to visibly develop the Ulster Scots language.

Cllr Bowsie added:”In June 2025, our five DUP councillors left the council’s Equality and Good Relations Reference Group after a persistent lack of respect towards unionists within Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, namely, the imposition of Irish signage in largely PUL (Protestant, Unionist, Loyalist) communities, the free rein of republican motions heard in the council chamber, and the procedures for community consultation on issues affecting unionists not being followed.

“We made it clear that we would not be returning to this Equality group until unionists were treated fairly.

“Within five months (November), we secured the creation of an Ulster-Scots and Ulster British Working Group, 10 years after an Irish equivalent was formed in the council.

“The British element of this new group makes it the first of its kind in Northern Ireland.

“We also recently received a joint letter from all the other parties appealing for us to return to the EGRRG to enable it to function fully.

“While we still have concerns around the operation of this non-statutory group, as a means of resolving this dispute, we suggested increasing the representation of minority parties in the group (such as the DUP) in order to have a better balance of voices from minority communities like ours.”