Ald Geraldine Rice said: “This was a nasty political carve up, aimed at denying what Alliance was democratically entitled to. We supported the DUP for Mayor as they are the largest party, but they did not support us for the Deputy Mayor position despite the fact that we are the second largest party on the Council
“It is sad to see that there continues to be sectarian and divisive politics in Castlereagh Council. During the election campaign we showed that the public want politicians to work in a positive manner, they do not want the bitter politics that we have seen today to continue.
“We were also denied positions on other outside bodies like the Hanwood Trust and the East Belfast Partnership. And we should have received two committee chairs but were only given one. The DUP and UUP Castlereagh Councillors today showed their anger at the growth of the Alliance Party in the area by opposing our nominations.
“At the polls the public voiced their opinion that they want more Alliance representation on Castlereagh Council with the election of two more Alliance Councillors, but the DUP has decided to ignore the public, as they often do, by blocking us from positions that we are proportionally entitled to. They are obviously stuck in the past and are more interested in playing petty politics than actually moving Northern Ireland forward.”
ENDS