The Belfast Mayor - A Year in Chains

In 2011, Belfast City Council elected its youngest ever Lord Mayor,

Niall O'Donnghaile.

I'm not here because I won a raffle. I'm here because I have a mandate.

This was going to be a big year.

The MTV awards and the Titanic centenary

would put Belfast and Niall on a world stage.

As a film maker, I wanted to find out how a 26-year-old with no experience

of political office would cope.

You think it's all MTV awards and wining and dining -

that's what I've to go through. Look.

You've probably noticed by now that I'm English,

but I have been living here for six years.

The opportunity to film behind the scenes

on such a momentous year was something I jumped at.

This is where the real craic happens anyway. It's not round there.

I wanted to discover what motivates

someone so young to accept such a high profile role. And whether his

age would enable him to be free from some of the baggage of the past.

I haven't even had my breakfast yet, and I'm going to eat a poke.

There are people who have a very fundamental problem with the very

fact that there's a Republican in this position.

They can't get there head around it. They don't ever want to see it.

This man wants on television, so make sure you get him on the TV.

Oh, no. I just don't want to get wet.

It's the night of MTV's European Music Awards, the EMAs.

Tonight, Snow Patrol are playing a free concert outside City Hall,

and the world's biggest pop stars are

gathering at the Odyssey arena for the ceremony.

I asked Justin Bieber last night, twice, if he wanted to wear the

chain. He refused the first time and the second time he said,

"It looks too heavy." And he's right.

-I seen him yesterday...

-Where did you see him?

-Outside the hotel.

-There's me and Bieber.

-Oh!

-I've more of them here.

GIRLS GASP There he is checking out the chain.

Oh, my God.

There's a really good atmosphere in Belfast tonight.

And I can't help thinking,

"This is the event that a young mayor was meant for."

We all know Belfast is buzzing.

We know it's a great city and a great place to be. Now we're seeing

the fruits of that. Great night. A party atmosphere around the city.

The message that's being projected to the world is that Belfast is now a

vibrant city that has put the Troubles behind.

Of course, life is never that simple.

Coffee? tea?

How long have you lived here?

A few years now...

-..just coming two years.

-'Niall has invited me round

'to his flat, in the Short Strand.

'He's lived in this area of East Belfast all his life,

'but for security reasons I've

'been told not to film any shots of the outside.'

I'll give you the Superman mug.

When I worked in a school the kids bought me that when I left.

At least somebody thinks it of me, you know?

If all else fails. If all else goes to the wall.

You were a classroom assistant?

Yeah. Classroom assistant, fairly shortly after I left university.

How come you didn't go into teaching?

I done politics at uni, so there weren't huge amounts of options when

you left. That option presented itself - it was in an Irish-medium

school so I thought, "Better this than going to sign on."

That sounds really bad. I don't mean it as cynical as that - I was

delighted to do it and wanted to do it then. But it wasn't what I had

envisaged going into, prior going into university.

Niall's first job in politics was in

the Sinn Fein press office at Stormont.

He was there for three years, before

standing for election as a Sinn Fein councillor for the Short Strand.

It's always very weird, when you grow up in an area like the Strand,

to see your name painted on a gable wall, but then also have to walk.

I live in this area. I do my shopping in this area. I have the

occasional pint in this area. So to walk from your house to the bar, and

pass your neighbours and relatives, and there's your mug on a lamppost.

It sort of gets to a point where it can be a bit cringeworthy.

Niall was only a councillor for a few weeks

before he was asked to become Sinn Fein's third ever Lord Mayor.

The first was Alex Maskey, ten years ago.

Under the D'Hondt system it was Sinn Fein's turn,

but his year seemed to get off to a bad start.

The new Deputy Mayor, DUP's Ruth Patterson, appeared to snub him when

he leant over to offer his congratulations.

The press made a lot of this.

It's an unfortunate tone to start this year as mayor, but it's not

a tone I want to set. It's not a tone that I'm particularly

caught up on.

Shortly after, he was back in the news

when he took down some pictures of the Royal Family and put up

Republican images of the United Irish Men and the 1916 Proclamation.

The problem was that when I came in here first the imagery and

symbolism in this parlour was exclusive.

Niall's first real test came at the end of June when

his constituency came under attack from loyalists groups.

The Short Stand is a nationalist

community in the middle of a strongly loyalist East Belfast.

And it was a reminder for me of the ugly side of division in the city.

There was upwards of 100 masked men throwing petrol bombs, paint bombs,

bricks at homes, at various locations.

-BOOM

-You can hear that. That's what we've

been dealing with since early on this evening.

The streets have now been cleaned up and as Niall takes me on guided tour

I'm interested in finding out what

it's like to grow up in an area like this.

Are you a Man Utd supporter? Ooh!

Growing up here, this was an area that was heavily impacted.

There was a lot of people here who would have went through prison,

who would have been actively involved in the conflict.

Operations and attacks carried out by the IRA wouldn't have been

unusual. It was a very active Republican community.

-We're looking at the peace walls, are we?

-Yes.

You know, other areas might have the odd peace wall, as they are referred

to, but as we head round, this area is surrounded on all sides

by them. And, for many, we are hemmed in.

That's why we do have that very village mentality.

-Would you love to see these ripped down one day?

-Of course I would.

But I'm very conscious as somebody who lives here and is a member of a

community that's affected by these.

Ultimately, it's the people on both

sides of the wall that will make the decision.

It's Remembrance Sunday. I thought that Niall might be here, and I was

interested to find out how he handled the event.

But I was soon told he wasn't attending, and that the

Deputy Lord Mayor would be representing the city in his place.

Well, members of the armed forces come from every community in Northern Ireland.

Religion doesn't matter to them. They're serving their queen and

their country, and they're proud to do so.

Would it not be nice to see the Mayor here today though?

Be nice for Belfast, the whole city...

-to remember together...?

-I'm the Deputy Lord Mayor, and I'm

representative of all of the people in Belfast here today.

BAGPIPES BLARE

A few days later, I asked Niall why he felt unable to attend.

I think it would be remiss of me,

given the role, not to at least think about taking part.

Three out of four of my great grandfathers fought in the

First World War were members of the British army.

I did lay a laurel wreath on the first of July at the anniversary of

the Battle of the Somme, so I think it's unfair to say that I haven't taken some steps.

As it stands today, it is very difficult because the current

ceremony, the current process of Remembrance, isn't inclusive.

It doesn't acknowledge the role that the British army played in

the conflict here. In many ways it actually glorifies it.

And for many people in this city, that is very fundamentally,

at a human level, hurtful...

and exclusionary.

For many here that have lost loved ones that have been targeted by

the British army, whether through collusion or directly,

I'm their mayor...

as well as a mayor for the unionist community.

Looking around me, I can see why Niall might feel uncomfortable.

I'm starting to realise that

inclusivity means different things to different people.

-Justin? How you doing? I'm Niall. Pleased to meet you.

-And you too.

You're causing me a lot of problems, I have to tell you.

Where's Mr Tumble?

Niall's duties today are shared by Justin Fletcher.

Better known as Mr Tumble.

All these kids don't want to see me, they want to see Justin.

It's the start of a busy few weeks of engagements.

-ALL:

-Three, two, one...

As I watch Niall deal so comfortably with everyone around him, I can see

that in many ways he is ideally suited to this role.

I'm proud today to officially announce the return of the Tall Ships.

His non-appearance at Remembrance seems to have been tolerated.

As the week pass, it looks that Niall's year is going well.

And then this happened.

Good afternoon. Unionists have called on the Sinn Fein Lord Mayor

of Belfast, Niall O'Donnghaile, to publicly apologise or resign for

refusing to present an award to an army cadet this week.

The issue is likely to be raised at

tonight's monthly meeting of the council.

Niall's decision not to present the young cadet with an award is regarded

by many as a step too far.

And outside City Hall people have come to protest.

He's to represent both sides of Northern Ireland. If he's not

willing to do that then he shouldn't be Lord Mayor. I'm a member of the

Catholic nationalist community and I'm in the army cadet force.

HORNS BLAST

Over the last few days, opponents

have been calling for Niall's resignation.

This afternoon he made a public apology for any offence he caused.

He's hoping it will be enough to save his career.

It was an issue that I was caught out with. It wasn't one I was

expecting. In order to avoid any undue sensitivities to either party,

I took a decision that it would be appropriate to give out a number of

the awards and for someone else, in terms of the VIP party, to give out

a number as well. It's important to say that in doing that,

it wasn't my intention to offend anyone.

Tonight is going to be tough.

I'm wondering if he's nervous.

I think it's fair to say that you'd be nervous about every council meeting.

You never know what's going to happen. We'll see how tonight goes.

We'll see how it goes.

We'll just have to wait now for the bell to ring, and for us all to go in.

Mahatma Gandhi says, "I want my window to the winds of the world,

"but I don't want to be swept off my feet."

-BELL RINGS

-OK, David? See you soon.

What we're here to do tonight is actually deal with the facts

and hopefully move on. But the reality is that had I presented

this particular award to a representative of the army cadet

force, then another large section of the community may have been

as equally offended.

Lord Mayor, there is no question that you caused offence.

Look outside. Look how many people took to the streets tonight

to come an register their protest against you and your decision.

We need to hear that you apologise to this council and to the way in

which you defaced the honourable office of Lord Mayor in this city.

As chairman of the council Niall is not allowed to interrupt.

Tonight, he has sit and take it, from both sides of the chamber.

You absolutely snub people.

And, Lord Mayor, I don't know how you're going to roll back from this.

What you have done is to render you,

in vast sways of this city,

utterly untouchable.

You and I have had a perfectly good,

professional working relationship...

Although Niall's told me they've been getting on better recently,

the Deputy Lord Mayor is particularly scathing.

You're a young man. You have a lot to learn.

And you need to learn this lesson.

You do not disrespect anyone...

..whether it be because they are Protestant,

Catholic, Hindu, Muslim or anything else.

Or whether they are a member of Her Majesty's armed forces.

Live it and learn it, Lord Mayor.

This will not go away.

Thank you, Deputy Lord Mayor.

It was laughable. People who preach to me how to be a mayor were the

same people, some of them, who reigned over this place when it was

that epicentre of bigotry.

With the greatest respect to them, I won't be lectured by them, in terms

of issues of equality and representation.

Do you regret that decision that night?

Do you wish you'd given the award now?

To be honest, I wish it all happened differently.

Christmas has come to City Hall.

After the strain of the last few weeks, I'm sure Niall is looking

forward to the break - a chance to reminisce about happier times.

When we had the MTV awards at City Hall, I thought,

"All right, it mightn't just be

"snow on the lawn, but it's Snow Patrol on the lawn."

I thought it's reflective of the new Belfast.

I thought some of the colours were a bit Christmassy as well, so I think

we'll get away with it. I think the Lord Mayor of Dublin and Cork will

be terribly jealous when they see this, but there you go.

It's the New Year and Niall is getting his fortnightly haircut.

I've asked if I can tag along.

Right, I'm away up. I'll see you after.

There are no hairdressers in the Short Strand, so instead of going

somewhere else in East Belfast, Niall

travels west to Pat's on the Falls Road.

-How is your form, all right?

-All right. Niall, yourself? Busy man?

Busy enough...

Loyal customers, like Niall, get to use the room upstairs.

How long has Niall been coming here?

-From when he was a baby.

-For as long as I was getting my hair cut, this

man's been cutting it. He's watched it turn from a lovely shade of black

-to grey.

-That's understandable.

-This year more than others?

-This year more than others? I don't know.

-Maybe. Maybe.

-Was there any dodgy haircuts in your teenage years?

-Erm...

-Yeah. He had a bowl once.

-I didn't have a bowl.

-A step.

A step? Aye, I had a step all right.

I find it remarkable that Niall has had just one barber all his life.

Compared to a lot of people his age, he seems incredibly

settled and set in his ways.

-You ever thought about living away from Belfast?

-Aye, of course.

But you go down a certain way, and I suppose after I left university

I went straight into work.

I mean at this stage I couldn't see it. I don't know if Sinn Fein would

-let me.

-Doubt it. Doubt it very much.

Man of the future.

-There you go, Niall.

-Am I on fire, Pat?

-If you don't get a girl

-tonight, you get your money back.

-I'm telling you.

That's quite a deal. You've never said that before.

Never a problem before.

I'm keen to find out more about what makes Niall tick,

so, today, I've come with him to the open day at his

former secondary school.

Colaiste Feirste is an Irish-medium secondary school.

It moved to it's current site in 1999, but when Niall started

they occupied a floor of the Culturlann.

At the end of the day, can I claim to have done some good?

I'd say so.

Niall's former principle, Garai Mac Roibeaird, is also here today.

I tell people I went to a hedge school. That's what I tell people.

I'm very proud of that because it was more than a school.

What other school has, all right, it probably wouldn't be allowed now,

but what other school has a thriving cafe and bookshop below it?

And a pirate radio station above it?

You know? A theatre company hosting dramas down the hall from it...

It obvious Niall's school experiences made a huge impression.

He was part of a movement fighting for recognition,

and I'm beginning to get a sense of where his journey to

City Hall started.

You can't have a school encourage you to develop as a person and

be confident and be out there and part of your community, involved in

your community, unless they are too.

We were lucky in the sense that we were being taught by

activists - who were community activists, political activists,

cultural activists - people who were out there.

More often than not, we would go on trips to protest about funding

and lack of facilities. So it's no wonder I ended up going

down the road I went down. But that's OK. There's nothing wrong

with that. Sometimes that's discouraged. Sometimes that's almost

frowned upon. It's not very trendy or PC for young people to be

politically or socially or culturally active.

It's the last day of March.

The biggest day of Niall's year and possibly his career to date.

We're at the bottom of the M3. We're less than five minutes away.

Do you need us to hang back a bit?

Today is the official opening of the Titanic visitor centre.

There it is.

It's the start of over a fortnight of Titanic centenary celebrations.

The council has invested £10 million,

and the words Niall chooses today will be repeated around the world.

How are you feeling right now, Niall?

Grand. It's a nice day. It's an important and significant day.

But...

it's...

Yeah, I don't know.

My family, looking back generations, lived in the shadow of the shipyard.

They didn't work in it. You know, there were Catholic workers

who were chased out of it. So it isn't all rosy, and I don't think

we should forget that.

I'm not saying that equally we should focus in on that either.

We're in a different place. We're in a changed Belfast.

The very fact that it's going to be a Short Strand man standing

as Lord Mayor in Titanic Belfast when it opens indicates

the kind of changes we've made.

In my mind, Niall's speech today will be incredibly difficult.

Not only has he got to strike the right tone between celebration and

commemoration, but he will also be compared to experienced political

orators like Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness.

Lord Mayor of Belfast.

As he approaches the podium I notice that he's left his notes behind.

NIALL SPEAKS GAELIC

My great grandmother was from Chemical Street - just two minutes

down the road in Ballymacarrett.

And she brought her first born son, Willie, down to Mountpottinger Road

and watched as the bow of the

Titanic grew up and grew up, further and

further into the fine innovation that it became.

You know, I thought it would better just to speak and speak about

the city, speak about the story, and I think we have done that.

There's a real good buzz and no doubt it will last.

The Titanic festival is a real

opportunity for the people of Belfast to come together.

After the celebrations there's a chance for reflection...

with the unveiling of a new memorial at City Hall

to the victims of the disaster.

After spending so much time with Niall, I'm starting to

notice other positive results of cross community co-operation.

The World Irish Dancing Championships

at the Waterfront bring 20,000 people to the city,

and its largely due to work done by Ruth Patterson.

She still won't give me the interview I've asked for, but it seems that she

and Niall have managed to put some of their differences behind them.

-Do you wear hard shoes?

-No. I'll do my seven steps.

A few weeks later, Niall launches his suicide prevention initiative with a

conference for community groups and agencies from right across Belfast.

When I came in the office last year, one of the first issues, probably on

account of my age, that was raised with me was the issue of young

people in particular taking their own lives.

Despite it's serious subject matter, I find the day really encouraging.

People are working together at all levels,

but there are still reminders of the city's divided past.

It's Easter Sunday, and I'm on the Falls Road.

Niall has invited me to see to the annual Republican commemoration,

marking the anniversary of the 1916 Uprising.

There's always a fantastic crowd at this. I'm on call here, but it's

good to see you. I'll see you further up along the route.

Today, he's representing the National Graves Association.

But I'm wondering if he is also here as Lord Mayor.

I'm the Mayor. It's difficult to disassociate that from me.

But you're not wearing your chain. Would you like to be?

I think in terms of the chain, I think that will happen.

I think that needs to happen. I think that will happen

pretty soon, but we'll get there. We'll get to that stage where the

Republican dead are given their respectful place and

acknowledged in their rightful place, alongside all of those who

have died as a result of the conflict here.

I naively presumed that today was just about marking the

birth of the Irish nation.

I hadn't really considered how I would feel watching wreaths being

laid in the memory of members of the IRA.

I can't help making parallels with Remembrance Sunday a while back.

Niall told me his problem with Remembrance was that it didn't

acknowledge the hurt caused by the British Army.

But by the same token, why doesn't he have a problem attending a ceremony

that fails to acknowledge the hurt caused by the IRA?

Just like I was at the Cenotaph,

today I am surrounded by people who have lost loved ones.

I can't help thinking it would be

better if there was a more inclusive way of remembering the dead.

It Niall's last day. He's back in the Short Strand,

opening a child care centre round the corner from his flat.

27-year-old DUP councillor, Gavin Robinson is also here.

He was one of Niall's most vocal critics

when Niall refused to present an award to an army cadet.

In a few hours, Gavin will become the next Lord Mayor of Belfast.

Hmm. I'm actually getting quite a few nice messages on Twitter today.

Maybe that's cos they're getting rid of me. I don't know.

But I'm getting a few nice things said.

Are you feeling a bit sad now or are you feeling quite delighted...?

I'm not delighted. It's a bit like a last day of school.

I'm ready for it. You know? On to the next one. On to the next

challenge. It's somebody else's turn.

There's still a couple of hours to go until the DUP take over the

parlour and I'm surprised to see that the Queen is already back

in prime position.

-It didn't take long, Niall?

-Well, I decided to do it. I thought that

could be my last initiative in office.

It's not my job to take initiatives around equality for other people,

I took my initiatives.

We'll see what's been done, and I'm conscious that the person

coming in the office after me isn't a Republican - they're a Unionist.

This is how it was when I came in, you know?

My ma always taught me to leave a place the way you found it.

So that's what I'm doing.

David, I'm away to my meeting.

OK. Jack, before I go...

Well done.

For me Niall's decision to take down

the pictures represents the struggle he's had all year.

The Right Honourable Lord Mayor.

A struggle to assert his beliefs,

while respecting other people's points of view.

After spending so long watching Niall carry out his civic duties. I do

think his willingness to accept the role of Lord Mayor came from a

genuine desire to improve a city he loves.

But there must have been times when he felt a long way from the community

activism that's such a core part of his life.

I asked at the beginning if a young

mayor, might be free from the baggage of the past.

The answer is no. Perhaps no-one is, but I now realise that

this baggage doesn't necessarily

prevent people working towards a better future.

What do you give yourself out of ten?

What would I give myself out of ten? Most of my school reports usually

said, "He'd do better if he'd just shut up. If he would stop talking."

Maybe there's a lesson in that - maybe I should stop talking.

-Cheers, Niall. Thanks.

-That it?

-Yeah.

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