Lack of funding for this year’s New Lodge Festival was a complete mess - Ní Chuilín

North Belfast Sinn Féin MLA Carál Ní Chuilín said the .
Belfast Sinn Fein MLA Carál Ní Chuilín said festivals like the New Lodge should be given every support.
“These festivals were brought in to replace the violence we had around the anniversary of internment, it was about keeping the streets safe,” she said.
“But £77,000 for the whole city of Belfast is crazy. It’s just not enough. DCAL’s a complete mess. The DUP minister and the Civil Service have no understanding of what a community festival is.”
Festival organiser John O’Hagan said it would be back to basics for the New Lodge Festival.
“Due to the lack of money available for community festivals the New Lodge Festival Committee has this year been unable to secure funding to stage a programme of events as previous years,” said John.
“However we hope to take this opportunity to bring the festival back to basics. Back to the days when we had no funding the festival was always a huge success,” he said.