A DUP motion that was brought before Fermanagh and Omagh District Council this week welcoming the party’s £1 billion deal with the Conservative Party has been condemned as “self-indulgent” and “self-congratulatory”.

Proposed by Erne North’s David Mahon, the motion called on the Council to “welcome the significance” of the recent agreement between the Conservative Party and the DUP.

It further called on the Council to recognise the “potentially positive impact” that the financial arrangements could have within the Fermanagh and Omagh area.

Following last month’s General Election, in which the Conservative Party failed to secure a majority in Parliament, Prime Minister Theresa May promised £1 billion of extra spending in Northern Ireland in return for the support of the 10 DUP MPs.

Mr. Mahon told the Council’s monthly meeting in Omagh on Tuesday night that he welcomed the investment that was “hopefully coming west” as a result of the deal.

He claimed the money that would “filter down” to Fermanagh and Omagh would help every person in the Council area.

“I hope the Council can come together and welcome this,” the Erne North representative said.

Despite his appeal for unity, the motion received widespread criticism from other councillors.

Questions were asked over how much of the promised £1 billion would end up being spent locally, particularly on much-needed infrastructure projects.

While the DUP motion did receive the backing of the UUP members, it was eventually defeated by 23 votes to 12.

Sinn Fein West Tyrone councillor, Frankie Donnelly, said it was the “most self-congratulatory and self-indulgent” motion to have been brought before the local authority.

“Almost for that reason alone, it must be rejected,” Mr. Donnelly said.

His party colleague, Debbie Coyle, told the meeting that the “first victims” of the Conservative/DUP deal had been public sector workers, including the firefighters held up as heroes after the Grenfell Tower disaster.

In the wake of the deal, the DUP MPs voted with the Conservatives to prevent state employees from receiving a pay rise above the one per cent rate at which their salaries have been capped since 2010.

While the UUP’s Howard Thornton said that no one in their right minds would turn down the investment on offer, he said there were “lots of question marks” over how the money would be distributed.

Asking what direct benefits there would be for Fermanagh and Omagh, Mr. Thornton said that it was understood that the infrastructure money had been earmarked for the York Street Interchange in Belfast, rather than any of the proposed schemes west of the Bann.

Independent councillor, Bernice Swift, told the meeting that the motion was “so irrelevant” that she would not be supporting it.

She described the DUP’s decision to back the Conservatives in voting against the end of the public sector pay freeze as “outrageously disgusting”.

The independent councillor also questioned whether the “cobbled together, chaotic” deal would ever bring any benefit to Fermanagh and Omagh, adding that it lacked clarity and detail.

At the end of a lengthy debate, Councillor Mahon thanked the members for their comments and said: “It’s unfortunate that we’re not going to be united.”

The DUP representative insisted that money coming into Northern Ireland should be welcomed.

Mr. Mahon said he would continue to push for road schemes, such as the A5, A32 and Enniskillen bypass, along with more public sector jobs and ultra-fast broadband.