For immediate release
STATEMENT FROM DENNISTOUN COMMUNITY COUNCIL IN RESPONSE TO ALLEGATIONS ABOUT WREATH LAYING AT DENNISTOUN WAR MEMORIAL
Dennistoun Community Council, through the messaging service on our website, received a piece of correspondence on 29 September inviting Dennistoun Community Council to a short remembrance ceremony at Dennistoun War Memorial. This message was acknowledged by our Secretary on 08 October 2019 and the item was placed onto the Community Council’s agenda under the Correspondence Item, as is standard practice.
The correspondence read:
Message:
Hi
Jim Watson
We will be having a remembrance ceremony at the Dennistoun war memorial on Sat 16th Nov at 11am.
DCC representatives are most welcome to attend this event.
You are most welcome to lay a wreath if you wish to do so.
All groups are politely asked to attend between 10.30 – 10.45am.
Thankyou.
Friends of Dennistoun war memorial.
This invitation was accepted by Dennistoun Community Council and a Community Councillor volunteered to attend. On 14 October 2019 email correspondence was sent putting our Community Councillor directly in touch with the organiser Jim Watson.
Following the ordinary meeting on 08 October 2019, individual Community Councillors and Dennistoun Community Council as a group have been the recipient of online abuse and targeted inflammatory language due to misleading and factually incorrect social media posts suggesting that the Community Council has refused to lay a wreath in Alexandra Park.
Dennistoun Community Council was invited to the remembrance ceremony and has accepted this invitation. During the Ordinary Meeting, Community Councillors raised the fact that DCC had not previously laid wreaths and if we were to set precedent at one location, we should consider laying wreaths at multiple sites, one of which given as an example during discussion was the Necropolis. A vote was called and the Community Council voted unanimously to remain neutral to all memorial services and send representation instead.
Furthermore, Dennistoun Community Council receives an administrative allowance to pay for venue hire and administrative costs associated with running 12 meetings a year. We do not have the powers to fundraise for or finance wreath laying activities across several memorial sites in Dennistoun and Haghill.
We are deeply saddened to read the abuse being levelled at our community group. No consideration has been given for the Community Councillors’ individual connections or involvement with remembrance activities. Instead, individual members of the community have levelled unfounded abuse at community volunteers and politicised what is a solemn memorial to all the men, women and children who gave their lives for our freedom.
–ENDS–
This statement can be downloaded as a PDF here.
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