Debate contribution: Display of Flags and Emblems Bill: Second Stage
Debate contribution by Ms Paula Bradshaw on .
- MLA
- Ms Paula Bradshaw
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 7 September 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Display of Flags and Emblems Bill: Second Stage
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5670409
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I will go into the specifics of the clause, and hopefully I will be able to address that. Fundamentally, as I have said, this gives people an opportunity to act voluntarily. It is not a notification system. People can go on to the online portal that is featured in one of the clauses to say, "We're going to put flags up in this area. This is the celebration. Here's when they'll go up, and here's when they'll come down". Likewise, there will be an opportunity for people living in that vicinity to express a view. My colleague Kate Nicholl, whose office is at the Inns Cross on the Saintfield Road, will know well that business owners there have said, "We're trying to attract people from all sides of the community. We want them to stop along the Saintfield Road". It is not about the flag; it is about the purpose that, people sometimes feel, the flags have been put up for. Again, the Department will have to make a judgement and say, "They've been put up for the marching season. A local band or lodge put them up". It is the excessive period that some people have an issue with.
I am answering the question, sorry. It is not about the flag per se; it is about, for example, whether it has been put up on a new housing development. Deirdre Hargey and I both commented earlier this year when tricolours were put up in a new housing development in the Markets area in South Belfast. We also saw flags go up beside new private housing on the Mealough Road. There is nothing wrong with flags; it is about the purpose for which they have been put up.
Yes.
Absolutely. I have said that. For example, we are very supportive of LGBT rights. If the organisers of Belfast Pride want to put flags up, we would be delighted. Not everybody will want to see our public space used in that way, but not everybody will like every flag that goes up. I will give another good example, with your indulgence, Deputy Speaker. A few years ago, Bredagh GAC put flags up on the Ravenhill Road when there was an all-Ireland final. The flags were up for a week or two and were then taken down. Not everybody in South Belfast supports the GAA, but the flags were put up respectfully for a sporting celebration and then taken down again.
Yes, I will, and then I will bring David in.
419 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.15 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.82).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.67).
- Subject area: Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.19 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.04 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.35 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.11 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.18 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.82 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.15 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.67 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.20 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.08 |
| Adopts it | 0.04 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.95 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.05 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 16:13 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
Disagree with this assessment?
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