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08/05/2014
Queen's Poppy Ban Defeated
A motion to ban the sale of poppies in the students' union at Queen's University Belfast has been defeated.
The proposal was put forward by Sinn Féin activist and student Seán Fearon and seconded by Kellyann McAteer. It received 40 no votes and 15 yes votes.
The motion said: "the Poppy Appeal is a politically charged and necessarily divisive initiative given the nature of local politics. This Council recognises that the Students' Union is an inclusive and neutral space for all students at Queen's University and therefore must offer a politically neutral environment regarding issues of the past to avoid offence and a sense of exclusion.
"This Council, therefore, instructs the VP Equality & Diversity and the Union President to end the sale of poppies in the Student's Union to provide an end to political sponsorship of the Poppy Appeal, in the name of peace, inclusivity and progressivism."
Speaking ahead of the vote, DUP MEP Diane Dodds said: "Whilst the wording of this motion talks of peace, inclusivity and progressivism it is actually regressive, backward looking and an attempt to politicse the poppy as a symbol and exclude it from Queens’s Student Union.
"For a motion tabled by university students it shows an abject lack of knowledge. The motivation behind the proposed ban is supposedly to maintain the neutral environment within the Student’s Union and to avoid offence and a sense of exclusion. However, the poppy is recognised as a non-political and non-sectarian symbol.
"The Equality Commission recognises that the wearing, and presumably the sale of poppies in a respectful manner within the appropriate period, should not be regarded as anything which would cause offence. Therefore, the motion is actually defeated on its own terms, leaving the political motivation behind the motion clearly exposed."
(IT/MH)
The proposal was put forward by Sinn Féin activist and student Seán Fearon and seconded by Kellyann McAteer. It received 40 no votes and 15 yes votes.
The motion said: "the Poppy Appeal is a politically charged and necessarily divisive initiative given the nature of local politics. This Council recognises that the Students' Union is an inclusive and neutral space for all students at Queen's University and therefore must offer a politically neutral environment regarding issues of the past to avoid offence and a sense of exclusion.
"This Council, therefore, instructs the VP Equality & Diversity and the Union President to end the sale of poppies in the Student's Union to provide an end to political sponsorship of the Poppy Appeal, in the name of peace, inclusivity and progressivism."
Speaking ahead of the vote, DUP MEP Diane Dodds said: "Whilst the wording of this motion talks of peace, inclusivity and progressivism it is actually regressive, backward looking and an attempt to politicse the poppy as a symbol and exclude it from Queens’s Student Union.
"For a motion tabled by university students it shows an abject lack of knowledge. The motivation behind the proposed ban is supposedly to maintain the neutral environment within the Student’s Union and to avoid offence and a sense of exclusion. However, the poppy is recognised as a non-political and non-sectarian symbol.
"The Equality Commission recognises that the wearing, and presumably the sale of poppies in a respectful manner within the appropriate period, should not be regarded as anything which would cause offence. Therefore, the motion is actually defeated on its own terms, leaving the political motivation behind the motion clearly exposed."
(IT/MH)
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