An investigation has been launched after a man appeared in the grounds of Belfast City Hall and made a speech attacking abortion and describing homosexuality as a “sin”.
Video of the incident was posted on Facebook on Saturday.
Green Party Belfast City Councillor Anthony Flynn commented after footage was published and labelled the man’s address as ‘hate speech’.
He said measures should be taken to prevent the ‘stunt’ happening again.
In the video the man, who appears to have a loud hailer, says God “wants to forgive you” if you “turn from wicked ways”.
A spokesman for the Council said: “City Hall grounds remain open for public use, but permission is required to stage any form of event within the site. Using the grounds without permission in this way is a breach of current park bye-laws, and council is currently investigating this incident.”
Councillor Flynn said the “hate speech delivered from the grounds of Belfast City Hall must be condemned and a repeat performance prevented”.
He added: “Belfast must be a city for all and our City Hall should be a safe space and a visible symbol of the transition that our people have made towards peace, tolerance and progress.
“The incursion onto the grounds of City Hall and the hate speech that was delivered violated so many of our citizens.
“The right to free speech is no defence for hate speech. The sentiment expressed in the grounds of City Hall has the potential to cause deep hurt and harm. Hate preachers have blighted our City Centre for some time now and violated the right of people to enjoy the public space.
“This incident represents an escalation of the campaign to use our civic space to abuse others. This is a nasty, tiny but very noisy element of our society. There is a security response needed from Belfast City Council. But, there is a separate and wider community response which involves respecting each other, showing kindness and treating people with dignity and respect.”
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