Belfast City Council approved a venue request for an Easter Lily launch event at City Hall on March 24. The decision came during a full council meeting in March. The event, organised by the Belfast National Graves Association, will include a reception and speeches on local history for up to 80 attendees.

The Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) proposed blocking the event. Seventeen councillors from unionist parties voted for the TUV proposal. Twenty-six councillors from Sinn Féin, SDLP and People Before Profit voted against it. Alliance Party and Green Party members abstained.

TUV Councillor Ron McDowell objected to the event at the meeting. He stated that it commemorates IRA members and conflicts with council equality and community relations standards. McDowell referenced specific Troubles-era incidents including the abduction and murder of Jean McConville and bombings on the Shankill.

Sinn Féin group leader Councillor Ciarán Beattie responded during the meeting. Beattie noted that McDowell listed IRA killings but omitted deaths caused by loyalists, British Army and RUC. He pointed out annual commemorations for RUC and British Army occur outside City Hall. Beattie argued for equal recognition of all communities' remembrances and cited other council-hosted events tied to unionist culture.