Belfast's Sinn Fein lord mayor has been snubbed again by unionists who have refused to nominate a deputy mayor to serve alongside him.

Before Tuesday's annual council meeting Alec Maskey said he hoped unionists would end their boycott of the deputy mayorship.

But speaking to BBC News Online after the meeting, former lord mayor and Ulster Unionist councillor Jim Rodgers said: "Both our party and the DUP made it plain that there is no intention to appoint a deputy lord mayor."

He said the appeal for names was once again on the council's monthly meeting agenda. But as none were put forward the matter had been deferred for another month.

Alex Maskey: Belfast's first republican mayor

Speaking on Wednesday, Ulster Unionist councillor Chris McGimpsey said the mayor wasn't representing all the people in the city.

"We took a decision at the beginning of Alex Maskey's year that because of his refusal to represent the city at certain events and when certain people are present that we felt that the time was not right," he said.

"None of us wished to serve as his deputy and as such we have not nominated anybody."

However, Mr Maskey said unionists were refusing to co-operate for party political reasons.

"The general public fully understand that unionists and nationalists and republicans are working together for the most part in city hall and elsewhere," he said.

Pledge

"The difficulty is that for some political people in the unionist camp, they are not prepared to be seen to be doing so certainly in advance of elections."

Alex Maskey had made history when he was elected the first Sinn Fein lord mayor of Belfast in June after getting 26 votes with the backing of the SDLP and the Alliance Party.

However, unionist councillors, the second largest bloc on the council, walked out of City Hall and threatened to withhold co-operation with Sinn Fein by refusing to fill the deputy lord mayor's post.

Since assuming office, Mr Maskey has pledged to work for equality for all.

He has taken part in a commemoration service for those killed during the First World War's Battle of the Somme.

However, his decision to have an Irish tricolour on display in his office alongside the Union flag angered some unionists.

Mr Maskey was twice interned without trial at the start of the Troubles.

He survived a number of loyalist murder attempts, including one in 1987 when he was rushed into intensive-care after being shot in the stomach.