Ban Batman? DUP and UUP councillors vote against film reclassification of the superhero flick.

The council says it may cause reputational damage if something were to ‘go wrong’.



The DUP and UUP have been accused of being enemies of Batman after a council committee voted against a recommendation to refuse reclassification of the new superhero movie by majority, with both unionist parties opposed.

Fermanagh and Omagh District Council’s Environmental Services Committee voted against the recommendation, with one member claiming: “The UUP and DUP seem to want to ban Batman, which is quite extraordinary.”

A cinema operator requested the council consider reclassifying the movie to 15A, after the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) certified it 15.

The same request was approved by Belfast City Council, but John Boyle, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council’s director of community, health and leisure, pointed to a “greyness” on whether the council could undertake film reclassification.

He added that 15A doesn’t exist with BBFC and that the council has to take the lead from the organisation.

“The difficulty is that the Republic of Ireland has 15A, meaning any person under that age can go as long as accompanied by an adult, whereas a 15 means no entry unless 15 or over,” added Mr Boyle.

He said if the council was to reclassify the film, “particularly if it is lower”, it may cause reputational damage to the council if something were to “go wrong”.