A council chief executive held a meeting with representatives of a far-right anti-immigration group without any agenda, terms of reference or minutes being produced, it has emerged.
Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council has confirmed that the only document it holds relating to the 11 May meeting between Chief Executive David Jackson and members of Our Northern Ireland Voice (ONIV) is a single email naming those who would be attending.
In its response to an FOI request submitted by campaign group End Deportations Belfast, the council said it could “confirm no terms of reference or similar documents, minutes and agendas of the meeting are held”.
The council only disclosed that ONIV representatives “expressed concerns about the Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) within the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough”, and that Mr Jackson “requested that all concerns be put in writing so they can be considered and addressed in an official capacity”.
The email, also released under the request, was sent to Mr Jackson ahead of the meeting in May and opens: “Those you will meet tonight David are”. It lists five names, three of which - Alastair Kyle, Mark Brown and Dan Douglas - were released. Two further names were withheld by the council when responding to the request.
Dan Douglas is also known as Dan Grundle, the ONIV co-leader jailed for three years in 2023 for his part in loyalist rioting against the Northern Ireland Protocol in Coleraine. He was identified from DNA left at the scene after cutting himself while throwing a toilet at police. The court heard he had previous convictions for disorderly behaviour and assaulting police.
Mark Brown, the former National Front leader in Northern Ireland, was convicted in 2019 over a racist attack on an Iranian taxi driver following a dispute over an £18 fare.
The self-described Nazi pleaded guilty last October to common assault on a woman and received a suspended sentence.
Mr Jackson faced criticism earlier this year for hosting the pair at council offices.
ONIV had staged two protests at council offices before the meeting was arranged, and has held regular protests at the Magherabuoy House Hotel in Portrush, which has housed asylum seekers, and at the Cromore Court apartment complex in Coleraine.
A spokesperson for End Deportations Belfast criticised the granting of a meeting with Grundle and Brown.
“Our FOI response exposes a failure or worse, an unwillingness to provide transparency on what this meeting was intended to achieve and what outcomes there were,” the group added.
Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council was approached for comment.
