Ulster Unionist MLA Mike Nesbitt has welcomed the apology from the Lord Mayor of Belfast following his refusal to present a Duke of Edinburgh award to a young army cadet at a City Hall awards ceremony on Monday night.
The Strangford representative said;
“I welcome the apology which has been issued by the Lord Mayor following his highly regrettable behaviour on Monday night.
I obviously cannot speak for the unionist Councillors at City Hall who I know were greatly concerned at the damage done to the good name of the City and the position of Lord Mayor.
I hope that the focus can now return to where it should have been all along, namely the tremendous achievements of the 150 young people who were at the City Hall to receive their Duke of Edinburgh Silver awards.
Finally, I would like to make an appeal to the media. The family of the young person involved have been in contact with my office and would like to make it clear that they do not wish to make any comment whatsoever on this matter, and have requested that they and their child be left in peace.
I would therefore strongly urge the media to respect the wishes of the family and make no further efforts to contact them. They have nothing to say.”
