Plans to honour the Royal Regiment of Scotland and national team boss Steve Clarke have been put on hold after a lengthy debate on what this involved turned into seasonal pantomime farce.
Kilwinning Councillor Donald Reid initially proposed bestowing Freeman of North Ayrshire status on both, with the former Kilmarnock boss to be honoured after taking Scotland to the World Cup.
He would become just the fifth individual to be added the Roll of Freemen of North Ayrshire since North Ayrshire Council was formed.
His first motion read: “North Ayrshire Council agreed to admit the Royal Regiment of Scotland as an Honorary Freeman of North Ayrshire", with the second to honour Saltcoats native Clarke.
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Cllr Reid said: “A lovely lady from Kilwinning approached me to ask about Freedom for the Royal Regiment of Scotland for Kilwinning and I said I would do my best to sort it out for North Ayrshire.
“The Royal Regiment was formed in 2006 and this is for the soldiers past and present as well as their families and it is much for them as it is for any current personnel.
“It would be fitting if it could be bestowed next year on the 20th anniversary of the regiment, AI tells me that half of the councils have either bestowed this honour or have agreed to do it.”
Cabinet member for Green Economy and the Environment, Tony Gurney, said: “What particular service has the Scottish regiment provided for North Ayrshire? If we were to do this what would he see as the outcome of our actions were this to happen?”
Cllr Gurney argued that more consultation was needed with officers on the matter of Freeman status.
Cllr Reid added: “I believe the Provost would be involved in how anything would be delivered and if you were to do a ceremony or a presentation, a full council meeting or an outdoor event preventing the Certificate of Freedom of North Ayrshire she would be involved in that process.
“Many will know the status of the Ayrshire regiments and the contributions they made over many years of service prior to the change 20 years ago.”
Cllr Alan Hill said: “We only have a two line notion and I am struggling to understand specifically what he thanks the Royal Regiment has done for North Ayrshire and why he would pick that particular group as opposed to the key workers who worked through Covid like ambulance drivers and care at home staff? I am not really hearing any case that would justify it.”
Leader Marie Burns said: “I have nothing but respect the military, I have four brothers who served in the RAF and one in the Falklands.
“If the Freedom of North Ayrshire is not to become a meaningless gesture like the FIFA Peace Prize, we need to have some meaningful discussion in council what that means. We need to have time to think about what Freedom of North Ayrshire means.”
The Peace Prize was bestowed on US president Donald Trump at the World Cup draw.
The award was created for the ceremony to "reward individuals who have taken exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace and by doing so have united people across the world".
It was ultimately decided that neither motion could proceed as it was unclear what the status would mean in practice.
Independent Cllr Ian Murdoch said: “We should have a definitive policy in place to deal with such a proposal should it arise again. We need to get our ducks in a row as far as policy is concerned."
The motion from Cllr Reid fell as it failed to achieve the two-thirds majority.
Cllr Reid then withdrew the motion to honour Steve Clarke to allow council and officers to discuss the way forward for the re-introduction of Freeman status in North Ayrshire. An example of what would be acceptable in terms of the honour would come forward from officers.
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