Debate contribution: Display of Flags and Emblems Bill: Second Stage
Debate contribution by Mr Andrew McMurray on .
- MLA
- Mr Andrew McMurray
- 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 5670887
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I thank the Member for his point, but I am still not convinced by the argument that he puts forward. However, at the same time, I always want to encourage dialogue. I look forward to dialogue with the Member, be that in the corridor, the Chamber or in the Committee room. Every party here has complained at various stages about national flags being placed to exclude one side of the community. To attribute that to simply one end of the political constitutional spectrum is not a fair or accurate reflection. I believe, and Alliance believes, in a shared society. I reimagine what this place could look like all the time. Perhaps that is the la-la land that Mr Buckley referred to as well, but it does not take much imagination, because anybody who witnessed the Fleadh Cheoil in Belfast knows what this place can look like. That is the intention behind the Bill and the intention of a shared society and a reimagination in Northern Ireland. I reflect personally on how to understand and act towards the issue at hand. The Bill is not about the banning of flags or suchlike but rather setting out in legislation how they may be displayed appropriately and respectfully. Lots has also been said about the "dignified" display, and I am not sure what that actually means. I have no problem with a display of national flags or whatever, but that term "dignified" has cropped up a number of times, and I am not sure what that means and what the parameters are for that. I imagine a shared society to be one where expressions of constitutional aspiration can be displayed and where, at the very least, there is tolerance among those who do not share that aspiration or belief, and, at best, a grace is shown towards it for someone who does not share the same view. A shared space does not mean a neutral space. The Bill's aim is to legitimise the use of flags and emblems and put in place clear arrangements for that. Those who already manage their displays well will see very little change. The Bill also aims to provide context and openness to the rationale behind the erection of such displays. I will be honest and say that my opinion on some of these displays has changed. My understanding has progressed, not least because I have taken the time to get to know some of the groups that display flags and emblems in my area from all sorts of narratives and aspirations. Furthermore, the Bill will give room to institutions to say that flags and emblems displayed in poor taste are not reflective of the values that they hold. I think that Mr Stewart made the point about removing the confusion between legitimate display and the under-the-cover-of-night display. Many feel threatened by those who put up flags and emblems. Even more simply, many feel unsettled by the colour scheme that may be used. I do not come at this from a position that all flags are intimidating — nor, indeed, does the Bill — but some most certainly are, as other Members have said. The same people who feel unease when they see people put those up probably would not feel the same unease when they were in the shop buying the milk or the Sunday papers, but the context, process and openness that the Bill seeks to establish matter. I can cite many examples of where the flags work well, as, I am sure, can many others. The flags go up and they come down. I was driving down the A1 the other day and there were ladders up and flags being removed — chapeau, kudos, well done. As I said, a lot of what the Bill is proposing is already being undertaken. It is hard to intervene with Mr Buckley, because his oratory is so mesmerising that I sometimes get carried away just listening to him. There have been times when —. I am giving him a compliment, and he is talking away, so he is.
Do you want me to start again?
You talk about community arrangements. There are times when flags go up and a community has not even been established. As I drive in to work, I have seen a UDA flag on a lamp post on the dual carriageway. Flags have been put on lamp posts even before the houses have been built. How can there be a community resolution when there is no community?
Of course.
755 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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