A scheme providing musical instruments to bands in Northern Ireland has come under scrutiny after a band with alleged links to loyalist paramilitaries was featured in promotional material.

The Department for Communities and the Arts Council recently announced the latest round of the musical instruments scheme, inviting bands to apply for funding. Included in the announcement was an East Belfast band called The Loyal, which participated in a loyalist band display at the Fleadh's Titanic Slipways event last summer.

After images of that event circulated, it was noted that The Loyal's bass drum displays pictures of two men described as 'UVF volunteers' by the East Belfast Memorial Committee, an organisation that commemorates deceased loyalist paramilitaries. The UVF is a proscribed organisation in Northern Ireland.

Arts Council staff have previously said bands kept their UVF links secret from the funding body. However, the inclusion of The Loyal in this year's promotional material has raised questions about whether the Arts Council and the Department for Communities are aware of the band's imagery or choose to overlook it.

Robin Livingstone, a journalist who has attended dozens of loyalist band events over four decades, argues that the veneration of the UDA and UVF is widespread across the loyalist marching and band scene. He says many bands feature loyalist killers on their uniforms or instruments or play tunes that celebrate them or target Catholics.

Livingstone suggests the instrument scheme is not a driver of inclusive and creative talent as claimed, but rather a cynical ploy to placate the bands and the unionist political parties that support them.

The Department for Communities and the Arts Council have not yet commented on the specific concerns raised about The Loyal's inclusion in the scheme.