Deputy first minister 'deeply saddened' after summer camp cancelled

The deputy first minister has said she is "deeply saddened that the organisers" of a cross-community summer camp "felt that they needed to cancel" the event after opposition from an Orange lodge to the involvement of children from a GAA club.

Emma Little-Pengelly said there was "legitimate discussion to be had" about the GAA's levels of inclusivity - but that this was not "the time or the place".

North Down Cricket Club had planned to host the event for young people from varied backgrounds, including some from East Belfast GAA, on Friday.

The lodge said there were concerns about the "perceived move of the GAA into the local community", which it said had come from some local residents.

North Down Cricket Club then decided not to go ahead with the original event after it said the "spirit of the camp was at risk of being lost".

Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme on Thursday, Little-Pengelly of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) said "cricket is a sport that brings people together" and summer camps like the one planned were for "children to get to know each other and work with each other".

She said she had spoken to the club, which is based in Comber in County Down.

Cricket Ireland said on Wednesday it hoped to move the event to Stormont in July.

Also speaking to Good Morning Ulster the First Minister, Michelle O'Neill of Sinn Féin, said the cancellation was "so disappointing".

"I am actually quite dismayed that anyone would think that young people coming together through the medium of sport, just because they come from a GAA background, that that is not appropriate," she said.

"I just think that is just totally unacceptable by anybody's standards."

She added "sport should be something that unifies people, no one should be excluded because they come from a Gaelic background."

North Down Cricket Club said the planned event had reflected "the best of our community and our Ulster-British heritage - confident, welcoming, and grounded in respect".

It said it had planned for the event to give young people from different backgrounds the chance to have fun by playing cricket.

It said 10 different local sports and community groups had been involved, including a "small group of children" from a GAA club.

Goldsprings of Comber Orange lodge said residents "have made it clear that until the GAA takes meaningful steps to ensure it is fully inclusive and sensitive to the history and identity of the Protestant, Unionist and Loyalist (PUL) community, its presence in Comber would be viewed with regret and opposition by many in the Comber area".

"This issue is not about opposition to sport, but about ensuring that all organisations operating in shared spaces demonstrate respect for all traditions and work proactively towards reconciliation and mutual understanding," a spokesperson said.

The lodge also said there had been "unease regarding aspects of the organisation (GAA) that have, in the past, celebrated or commemorated individuals associated with paramilitary activity"

That lodge, Goldsprings of Comber, has been accompanied by the Goldsprings True Defenders Flute Band in the recent 12 July commemorations.

That band has taken part in the annual Trevor King Memorial Parade, which remembers a senior UVF man who was shot dead in Belfast in 1994.

It has also taken part in a memorial parade for Belfast man Brian Robinson, also a senior member of the UVF.

In a further lengthy statement on Wednesday night, the lodge said North Down Cricket Club had taken the decision to cancel the event before the lodge's initial statement.

In a statement, East Belfast GAA said it was "disappointed" its youth academy members "won't be enjoying a planned community sports event".

"This was a great opportunity to engage with those who share our values of respect, togetherness, and inclusion," it said.

"The regrettable cancellation won't stop any of the organisations involved from continuing their great work in building bridges, promoting peace, and sharing spaces for sport."

The club said it looked forward to "future opportunities to collaborate with like-minded groups from Belfast and beyond".