ORGANISERS of one of the UK's biggest community festivals are under increasing pressure to scrap a concert headlined by controversial Scots comedian Frankie Boyle.
Protests and petitions have been mounted against Boyle's appearance at the West Belfast Festival in just under a fortnight over previous jokes he has made about disabled children.
A dedicated group has even been set up to demand the show be scrapped, with one of the founding members of the Festival, officially known as Feile an Phobail, urging organisers to axe the gig.
Tom Hartley, a former Lord Mayor of Belfast and Sinn Fein councillor, compared the booking of Boyle with inviting a racist or homophobic comedian to the event.
For his part, Boyle has stayed out of the rumbling row beyond taking to Twitter to say how much he was looking forward to the event.
On Friday, more than 100 protesters gathered in west Belfast to call for the gig to be scrapped, with a meeting set between festival organisers and the group Feile For All for today.
More than 1,300 people have also signed an online petition and a further 1,000 Facebook users have called for the show to be cancelled.
One leading protester, John Lundy, whose 12-year-old daughter Mia has Down's syndrome, said the comedian "mocks children" in an unacceptable way.
He added: "This man made jokes about the death of people with Down's syndrome and their appearance.
"It is wrong that people with Down's syndrome are made to believe this is all fair game. We are looking to step up our protests."
In 2010 Boyle faced criticism from the parents of a five-year-old girl with Down's after a sold-out gig in Reading.
During his performance, some jokes involved remarks about Down's syndrome children.
He has also been criticised for jokes about the disabled son of former model Katie Price and people taking part in the Paralympics.
On Friday Boyle posted a message on Twitter, stating: "I'm doing a gig in Belfast. It's going to be a f*****g belter too."
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