Belfast should follow Glasgow football lead

An Alliance councillor has called on Belfast City Council to follow the lead taken by its Glasgow counterpart by banning the sale of sectarian football material.

Sports spokesman Michael Long said lessons could be learned from the decision by Glasgow Council's Licensing Committee which has banned street traders selling sectarian goods outside the city's four football stadiums.

Mr Long said: "This important move is a further step towards combatting the scourge of sectarian hate throughout Scotland, and there is a valuable lesson for Northern Ireland here too. While the IFA has done much in recent times to reduce sectarianism on the terraces, it still appears to be legal to sell football memorabilia with sectarian content outside a club's ground.

"Glasgow City Council is sending out an important message to traders that profiteering from sectarianism will not be tolerated. Yet the problem is even greater in Northern Ireland, and not just at football matches. It is not uncommon to see Saturday market traders peddling paramilitary memorabilia quite openly in town centres.

"Clearly the law as it stands is not working, and it is time that we examined how the Scottish have been able to move faster to tackle their sectarian traders."

The Glasgow ban was enforced after consultation with the three football clubs - Celtic, Partick Thistle and Rangers football clubs - and Hampden Park, Strathclyde Police, the Council's Trading Standards officials and representatives from the city's street traders.

The ban means traders cannot sell goods with a sectarian, racial, political or religious aspect to them outside Glasgow's four main football stadiums.

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