Cllr. Séamas de Faoite

I'm not entirely sure how they did it, but they've completely cleared the streets around my office in Midtown #NYC.

They paid a lot of people good wages to do the job effectively, thank you for coming to my socialism talk

SDLP South Belfast Councillor Séamas de Faoite on site on Carolan Road where parking and congestion issues are causing real problems.

Carolan Rd needs a solution to its traffic problems. Previous interventions by DfI haven’t helped. Today I met with Principals of Forge Integrated & Wellington College to agree some actions & I’m now writing to the Infrastructure Minister to ask for her assistance to protect children and residents.

A photo of the information screen on a Belfast Glider with an error message that reads “Can’t install updates”.

Another delay from the Infrastructure Minister in delivering Glider. East & West Belfast have benefited massively from Glider, with a huge increase in passenger journeys & footfall, yet communities in North & South Belfast are once again expected to wait for the infrastructure we desperately need.

I don’t know who needs to hear Jesse Jackson leading the kids on Sesame Street in this beautiful call-and-response reminding them that every child is somebody, but here it is

We’ll be keeping the pressure up to get this finally delivered, having first secured its approval alongside the Ravenhill Road crossing with the support of Greens, DUP and Alliance.

Work is now progressing between the Department and BT to ascertain where the cabling will go and whether any existing cables will need to be moved - we’ve said this needs to be expedited so there are no further delays.

A social media graphic from SDLP South Belfast City Councillor Séamas de Faoite, highlighting Séamas standing on the Knockbreda Road in Rosetta, with two Engineers from the Department for Infrastructure standing behind him.

SDLP South Belfast Representatives Councillor Séamas de Faoite and Matthew O’Toole MLA on the Knockbreda Road.

🚦 Earlier today @otoolematthew.bsky.social and I met with senior Department for Infrastructure Engineers on the Knockbreda Road. We expressed our extreme frustration at the prolonged delay in delivering the crossing, which will allow us to open the gate in to Cherryvale.

“They’ll grow out of it”

I don’t know how many times I heard that growing up about gay people.

Very happy in my life as a gay adult, and that I didn’t try to suppress reality in order to “grow out of it”. Wishing the same for Trans folks.

So much dysfunction at the heart of the Stormont Executive, yet the two largest parties in Government are arguing over whether a billboard has planning permission or not…

A social media graphic for Valentine’s Day from SDLP Belfast City Councillor Séamas de Faoite, including stylised versions of Swizzel’s Lovehearts that say: “Vote 1”, “Glider 2gether?”, “Be My Nightbus?”, “Gate My Alley?”, “My Island in the Stream”, and “Unite Ireland with Me”.

💕 Happy Valentine’s Day ✨

A social media graphic for Valentine’s Day from SDLP Belfast City Councillor Séamas de Faoite, including stylised versions of Swizzel’s Lovehearts that say: “Vote 1”, “Glider 2gether?”, “Be My Nightbus?”, “Gate My Alley?”, “My Island in the Stream”, and “Unite Ireland with Me”.

💕 Happy Valentine’s Day ✨

Glad we were able to work with other parties tonight to move ahead with the Belfast Pitches Strategy. SDLP, Greens & Sinn Féin voted for a proposal that would see GAA provision committed to, alongside provision for soccer & other codes. It’s disappointing that Alliance & Unionism couldn’t join us.

Disappointing tonight that the DUP & Alliance joined together in City Hall to try to pitch Music & the GAA against each other. That’s not the approach that will lift up Belfast. It’s not the approach that has worked in the past. Much more work to be done to build an inclusive and vibrant city.

A social media graphic from SDLP South Belfast representatives Councillor Séamas de Faoite and Matthew O’Toole MLA outlining the area for a resurfacing scheme on the Ormeau Road between Rosetta roundabout and Galwally.

We’ve been campaigning to get the worst part of the Ormeau Road resurfaced. Now the Minister has promised a resurfacing scheme from the Rosetta Roundabout to the junction at Forestside. We’ll be keeping the pressure up to make sure it happens.

So you supported the pitches because the scoping exercise on alternatives is going to come back anyway - why not then support that again tomorrow?

I think SF would have a good giggle at the idea I’m covering for them 😅

But you supported and voted for the restoration of the pitches at committee last week?

My suspicion has been for a while bird flu - US suspended monitoring and reporting of cases back in September, which was always going to be a recipe for disaster.

My most recent concert experience there was dire if I’m honest. Sound, security, accessibility, bar queues, card machines going down, no phone signal. Really soured the whole experience considering the ticket was North of £100.

Do we want major concerts and events coming to Belfast? Absolutely. Is Boucher Playing Fields the best location for these? Having been there, I’m not convinced anymore. Is sport booming across the city? Absolutely, we need pitches.

More work to be done all round, but the populism is very blatant.

There is an ongoing scoping exercise by Belfast City Council to identify major event spaces in the city, which will tie in to our emerging major events strategy. It’s disappointing to see people who voted FOR more pitches last week coming out against them this week. This process is far from over.

a panda bear is sitting on a branch in the rain ALT: a panda bear is sitting on a branch in the rain

The weather as soon as I go to leave the house:

A large patched pothole on the Ormeau Road, in South Belfast.

DfI have done the first in a series of temporary patches of the potholes I raised with them on the Ormeau Road. These are just until they do a full resurfacing scheme that the Minister has told me will happen this summer - I’ll be keeping the pressure up to make sure this happens!

a man in a suit reaches out to another man in a suit ALT: a man in a suit reaches out to another man in a suit

Break out your fruit wine and toast to one of the greats tonight 😭

Former First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the SNP Nicola Sturgeon and SDLP Belfast City Councillor Séamas de Faoite.

Just two folks who believe in building an independent, equitable new future for their countries, inside the European Union ☺️

a person in a straw hat is laying on the ground in the water ALT: a person in a straw hat is laying on the ground in the water

So done with this rain.

We have to get any planning application right for the Good Shepherd Centre. I won’t be opposing housing in the middle of a housing crisis, but I will be opposing unnecessary tearing down of trees to be replaced by cars. There’s some good news for Carolan Rd in plans to permanently close the gate.

Uncollected bins on a residential street in the Lisnasharragh area of Belfast.

Bins update. A lot have been missed today, and will have to be lifted tomorrow or later this week. If your bin has been missed today, let me know. I’d also appreciate anyone letting me know if the contents of bins end up all over the street, so that we can get those areas flagged for cleansing.

SDLP South Belfast Councillor Séamas de Faoite on the Ormeau Road during Storm Chandra.

The Knockbreda Road in South Belfast during Storm Chandra.

Out around Rosetta & Ballynafeigh this morning to cover off some of our expected flooding spots. Thankfully the fact DfI finally cleared drains we’d reported means that flooding in these areas is at a minimum, including on Knockbreda Rd - which @otoolematthew.bsky.social & I worked to get cleared.

A Northern Ireland Water pumping vehicle clearing waste water sewage pipes in Kingsberry in Rosetta, South Belfast.

Grateful to the NI Water contractors who are out in Kingsberry to clear the combined water sewers - this should hopefully alleviate any potential flooding over the rest of the day.