An attempt in republican west Belfast to quell public protests against comedian Frankie Boyle attending Europe’s largest community festival next week have failed.
Despite mediation talks between the festival organisers and local disability campaigners, as well as the intervention of Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams, demonstrations will still take place criticising the Scottish comic’s presence at a sellout show in Falls Park.
Boyle’s edgy humour, particularly his jokes about children with Down’s syndrome and disabled people, has produced bitter divisions within the republican community in the west of the city. Even one of the festival’s founders, the veteran Sinn Féin councillor Tom Hartley, has objected to Boyle headlining the event.
Gerry Adams stepped into the row earlier this week when he supported the Féile an Phobail’s organisers’ right to invite Boyle. The former west Belfast MP insisted that the festival never intended to insult anyone.
Earlier this week, talks were held between the festival and a pressure group set up to protest against Boyle, Féile For All, which included families with children and siblings who have Down’s syndrome. Following discussions, Féile For All said it would disband and cancel protests it had been mounting outside the festival’s office on Falls Road.
But the campaign group’s former spokesman, John Lundy, split from it late on Wednesday night. He released his own statement on behalf of his partner Roisin Curran and children saying he would continue the opposition to Boyle.
Lundy alleged that the festival organisers told parents they would not cancel Boyle’s show for three reasons: the popularity of the Scot, the high ticket sales, and the risk that the annual event could collapse. More than 2,000 tickets for Boyle’s appearance have been sold and Féile an Phobail warned that it would face bankruptcy if it cancelled Boyle and had to hand the money back.
But Lundy, whose 12-year-old daughter Mia has Down’s syndrome, said: “I wish to distance myself personally and my family from the ‘joint’ statement from Féile For All and Féile agreeing to quickly fold before Féile an Phobail’s opening ceremony this weekend.
“I will continue to stand with those people who agree that mocking the disabled is wrong, asking them to sign the Change.org petition to register their opposition.”
His partner, Roisin Curran, has posted an attack on Féile an Phobail on the festival’s Facebook page accusing it of “moral bankruptcy”.
The festival organisers said they were “deeply sorry for any hurt or offence that has been caused”.
They added: “Féile an Phobail finds the mocking of the disabled totally unacceptable. Going forward, a number of ideas were jointly posted by Féile and the Féile For All group, which included a range of effective measures that Féile would put in place to avoid a situation like this arising in the future.”
In response, the Féile For All group said: “While the gig will continue on this occasion, we remain firmly opposed to this act appearing at our festival. We believe, however, that we have run an extremely successful campaign.”
The festival, which leading republicans in the constituency set up in 1988, has taken record ticket sales for the Frankie Boyle show.
The community arts event began during one of the bloodiest months of the Troubles in the 1980s, which included the loyalist Michael Stone killing three mourners in west Belfast at the funerals for three IRA members shot dead by the SAS in Gibraltar.
These murders were followed by the killings of two British army corporals who drove into another IRA funeral a few days later. Organisers decided to create a music and cultural festival that reflected a more positive image of west Belfast following these two televised, highly public terrorist events in their area.
