Boys' Brigade in Northern Ireland (BBNI) decides to split from wider UK and Ireland body amid 'finance and cultural differences'
The Boys' Brigade is one of the biggest Christian youth organisations in the UK and Republic of Ireland
The Northern Ireland branch has said it has "cultural differences" with the wider UK and Ireland organisation.In a statement to BBC News NI, the BB in Northern Ireland said it had decided to become a "separate autonomous body by mutual agreement". "The Boys' Brigade in Northern Ireland does not hold doctrinal positions but respects those held by every denomination with which we partner," the document said.
But BBC News NI understands that the approach taken by some Northern Irish denominations to LGBT issues such as same-sex marriage account for some of the differences. The first Northern Irish company was formed in 1888 in Donegall Pass in Belfast, five years after the BB was founded in Glasgow.BB leaders attending the AGM were asked to approve two resolutions on the BB in Northern Ireland becoming separate from the BB in the UK and Ireland.