On Saturday, on behalf of his Ulster Unionist City Council colleagues David Browne and Bob Stoker, Jim Rodgers asked the Lord Mayor, Gavin Robinson to open Books of Condolence at City Hall in memory of all those murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, USA. The Lord Mayor agreed to this request.
Jim Rodgers said, "Since news of this terrible tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School started to filter through on Friday, people have been contacting me to ask how Belfast City Council is going to show solidarity with the families. I asked The Lord Mayor to open Books of Condolence on Monday morning and he agreed to do so.
The murder of so many young children in the mouth of Christmas just emphasises the pain and hurt that the families of all the victims must be going through. This is a crime that has shocked the world and it is only right that the citizens of Belfast and Northern Ireland have an opportunity to leave messages of sympathy and support for the families.
We can only begin to imagine the pain of loss that the families must be going through.
Once the Books of Condolence have been closed, it would be our intention that they are given to the U.S. Consulate in Belfast in order for them to be passed to the families of the victims, to let them know that the people of Belfast and Northern Ireland have them in our thoughts."