Council to vote for new mayor

Alex Maskey became Belfast's first Sinn Fein lord mayor

Belfast City Council will vote on Monday evening to elect a new lord mayor.

Sinn Fein's Alex Maskey has held the position since last June, when he made history by becoming the first republican to hold that chain of office in the city.

However, the election sparked controversy with both the Ulster Unionist and DUP refusing to fill the post of deputy lord mayor to serve alongside Mr Maskey.

Last November, it was mooted that the SDLP would put someone up for election to the post.

But an SDLP proposal to adjourn the election until the council's annual general meeting was seconded by the DUP and passed unanimously.

Alex Maskey was elected the first Sinn Fein lord mayor of Belfast after getting 26 votes with the backing of the SDLP and the Alliance Party.

Equality

Unionist councillors, the second largest bloc on the council, walked out of City Hall and said they would withhold co-operation with Sinn Fein by refusing to fill the deputy lord mayor's post.

Since assuming office, Mr Maskey has pledged to work for equality for all.

He held a Remembrance function for the Royal British Legion and took part in a commemoration service for those killed during the First World War's Battle of the Somme last July.

However, his decision to have an Irish tricolour on display in his office alongside the Union Flag angered some unionists.

Mr Maskey was twice interned without trial at the start of the Troubles.

He survived a number of loyalist murder attempts, including one in 1987 when he was rushed into intensive-care after being shot in the stomach.