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A Newry community organisation has claimed that Sinn Fein and Newry, Mourne and Down District Council management are misleading the public about the Newry city park.
The Newry 2020 group have been campaigning for 10 years now for the park and although £16m has been allocated to the project, the money has yet to be signed over to Council. Sinn Féin have promised that the park will be a "World Class Park" and Council have said that the park will cost over £30m to build but to date haven't applied for any additional funding for the project.
Newry 2020 released a statement following last weeks meeting of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, when an Alliance Party motion calling for council to submit a bid to the Peace Plus Programme for the remaining funding needed to finish all phases of the proposed park, was deferred to the September Strategy, Policy and Resources meeting, by which time applications for the fund will be closed.
The Newry 2020 statement read "Last Monday, Alliance attempted to get the council to apply for Peace Plus Funding to complete the Newry City Park project. This was the latest in a series of attempts to obtain the money necessary to deliver the "world class park" that Newry people have been promised.
"Sadly, once again, the proposal was blocked, this time by the Sinn Fein Chair of the Council, Valerie Harte.
"In the rush to distract from this disgraceful decision, two false and misleading statements were put out by Sinn Fein on Facebook immediately after the meeting. Firstly, they claimed that they had obtained additional funding from Stormont, when in fact it was the same money that was announced almost two years ago. Secondly, they repeated a claim by Enterprise, Regeneration and Tourism Director Conor Mallon that the park was not eligible for Peace Funding due to the spending deadlines being 2027."
Newry 2020 say they contacted SEUPB about the issue, and were advised that the spending deadline is December 2029 - two years after Sinn Fein claimed. The 2020 spokesperson said "When we contacted Sinn Fein, we were told that their councillors were misled on both matters by council management."
The statement continued "As far as we are aware, Sinn Fein has still not publicly acknowledged either of their misleading statements.
"This is clearly an extremely serious matter. There have been numerous well-documented attempts by senior council staff to mislead councillors and the public on the park and other major projects over the years. Every time it happens, the matter is brushed under the carpet by our supposed representatives. And now political parties are allowing themselves to be used to spread misleading information on public forums, apparently without any accountability.
"Enough is enough."
The statement concluded with a list of demands
"Newry 2020 demands that our elected councillors:
1. Stop enabling council management to undermine the democratic will of the people of Newry.
2. Prioritise public health and regain public trust.
3. Agree to fund the 'world class park" that they have been promising for years.
4. Apologise for and retract misleading statements.
5. Hold council officers to account for misleading the public and councillors"
Newry.ie contacted Sinn Féin and Newry, Mourne and Down District Council for comment. The Council replied saying "Due to the annual leave arrangements of key officers involved with this matter, a response will not be available until w/c 28 August." Sinn Féin have yet to reply.
