Political career
Browne,a long-serving member of the DUP Central Executive;was a member of Belfast City Council for the Victoria electoral area from 1985 until 2010.
During his time on Belfast City Council,Browne was High Sheriff of the City in 2002 and Lord Mayor of Belfast in 2005–06.
In 2007,Browne was elected in the Assembly elections for the East Belfast seat. He remained a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly until 2011. During his time in the Assembly,he represented his party on various committees,including the Justice Committee,Culture and Arts Committee and the Audit Committee. Browne also served as chairman of the Assembly Procedures Committee.
Since 2006,he has served in the House of Lords. He was one of the first three members of the DUP to be introduced to the second chamber as a life peer,giving the party its first-ever representation in the House of Lords. The other two being Maurice Morrow,the chairman of the DUP,and Eileen Paisley,the wife of the late Leader of the DUP,Ian Paisley;all became "working" life peers. [1] Browne was raised to the peerage as Baron Browne of Belmont,of Belmont in County Antrim on 12 June 2006. [2]
Browne has been an active working peer during his time in the House of Lords,regularly contributing to debates on a range of issues including:Restoration of the Devolved Institutions in Northern Ireland, [3] Armed Forces Veterans,Military [4] Brexit, [5] Historical Abuse and Gambling. In 2017,Browne secured the first focused debate in the House of Lords on the issue of online gambling. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]
Damage to Belfast City Hall portrait
On 19 October 2024,Browne's portrait in Belfast City Hall was removed from a wall and the glass in its frame smashed during an event to celebrate an Irish language group’s 20th anniversary. A Sinn Féin Assembly employee resigned after admitting involvement in the incident. [12] It subsequently came to light that the individual is the son of a sitting Sinn Féin MLA. [13]
In a statement,a Sinn Féin spokesperson said: [12]
“Today, 21 October, a Sinn Féin employee, who works in the assembly, made the party chief whip aware of their involvement in an incident regarding a portrait in Belfast City Hall which took place on Saturday 19 October. The employee was immediately suspended, and we have notified the PSNI today. The employee has now resigned from their employment and their party membership.”
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is treating damage caused to the portrait as a hate crime. It was painted by artist Zohar Arnon, who grew up in Israel. [14] In a social media post, DUP leader Gavin Robinson said: “We don’t know if the motivation was sectarian bigotry, antisemitism, wanton destruction or a heady mix of the three … but [it’s] a disgrace.” [15] Belfast City Council said it was "assessing the extent of the damage and looking into the circumstances". [16]
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