Mid and East Antrim Council agrees to rename ‘Prince Andrew Way’

By Rebecca Black, PA

Mid and East Antrim Council has agreed to start the process to change the name of a street which was named after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Prince Andrew Way in Carrickfergus was named in 1986 to mark Andrew’s wedding to Sarah Ferguson.

However, the former senior royal has since been disgraced following his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and allegations by the late Virginia Giuffre that he sexually assaulted her when she was a teenager.

Andrew denies the accusation.

He gave up his royal titles, including the Duke of York, in October.

In the same month, the King initiated “a formal process” to remove Andrew’s style, titles and honours.

Alliance Party councillor Lauren Gray proposed to Mid and East Antrim Council at a meeting on Monday evening that Prince Andrew Way be renamed.

She said the issue of renaming the street has been suggested to her since she was first elected to the council in 2019, but that over the last year that had grown substantially.

She has proposed that the street be renamed, while retaining the link to the royal family, with Queen Elizabeth II a “fitting tribute” to the late monarch.

“In recent weeks as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor stepped away from some of the titles conferred on him, and now with the royal family removing his style, title and honours, we’re now in the space to have this conversation,” she said.

“Certainly with the level of public comment locally, it would seem we are long overdue in looking at what it would take to make this change.

“Carrickfergus has a long connection with the royal family, and when I tabled this motion, it was with the idea of honouring a long-serving monarch, a strong female leader in a male-dominated world.

“Since then many conversations have taken place, online and across different community settings, and what is absolutely clear is that the people of Carrickfergus deserve to have a say in how we progress this going forward.”

Her motion was seconded by Alliance councillor Aaron Skinner, and backed by all the parties represented on the council, including the DUP, UUP, TUV and Sinn Fein.

Council officers are set to bring back a report to councillors on renaming the street, which will include a mechanism to allow a public consultation to allow the people of Carrickfergus to have their say in the renaming.

The council heard there are around 10 addresses on the street.

The council’s interim chief executive Valerie Watts cautioned there is no council policy for changing the name of the street, and while it is not straightforward, it is possible.

“Clearly I respect the views of the chamber this evening on this particularly emotive issue, however what I do need to advise members is that there is no council policy for changing the name of a street, and it’s not just straightforward,” she said.

“Residents absolutely need to be consulted because it can have far reaching implications for them, such as changing your address for your bank account, credit cards, driver’s licence, utility bills etc, however it can be done and council do have the power to change street names.”

She said other agencies, such as Royal Mail, need to be consulted, and council staff will do a full investigation into what is required, and bring a full report back to council.

Ms Gray responded: “I think we are aware of the process that this will take … I think the important thing here tonight is that we’re taking that step forward to empower the officers and the staff team to look at how we can make this happen.”