Debate contribution: Display of Flags and Emblems Bill: Second Stage

Debate contribution by Mr Peter McReynolds on 14 September 2026.

MLA: Mr Peter McReynolds
Party at the time: Alliance Party
Date: 14 September 2026
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Private Members' Business
Heading: Display of Flags and Emblems Bill: Second Stage
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5686131

Text

I welcome the opportunity to continue the Second Stage debate on the Flags and Emblems Bill. I thank the Bill's sponsor for bringing it forward, and for her tireless work in that area over the last decade. Last week's debate was largely useful in that we all agreed that flags that promote proscribed organisations should come down immediately, and we all acknowledged that engagement in the spirit of respect, openness and transparency is fundamental to addressing the erection of flags, emblems and banners across Northern Ireland. Contrary to some of the views that I heard last week, the current legislation achieves none of that, and that is precisely why the Bill's sponsor has put forward pragmatic legislation that starts the conversation and attempts to plug a gap that our constituents want to see filled. I say that as someone who has been elected in some capacity in and for East Belfast since 2017. As I said when we debated the Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition (FICT) report in 2024, I have dealt with messages, notifications and phone calls over the past nine-plus years in politics from residents who are upset by unknown people erecting flags in the dark of night for an unspecified time and for uncommunicated reasons. I have also seen those who claim never to erect flags direct others in broad daylight from their cars. Equally, I have heard from residents who feel frustrated at people who are not from the area coming in and impacting their local community. The basic principle of the Bill is that, if you want to fly flags or emblems for whatever reason, you can notify the lamp post's owner that you are the responsible organiser, why you want to fly them and for how long. It means that 99 times out of 100, the flags will stay there, the organiser will be happy and residents will be happy because they know who put them there, why and, crucially, for how long. Enforcement of the proposed law only becomes necessary when that has not happened for whatever reason, and the flag should then be removed by DFI. That is currently not happening. A recent freedom of information request to the Department for Infrastructure from the residents of an area in East Belfast, who had three flags imposed on them for the first time this year, confirmed that DFI has taken down zero flags across Northern Ireland from its street property in the last three years. I imagine that there would be a similar statistic for other constituencies or if you were to go back further into history. A theme that came up during the last debate was that the PSNI should remove the flags and not DFI officials. As a Policing Board member, I am well aware of the pressures on the PSNI, and that was laid bare during the recent 'Peelers: The PSNI for Real' programme, when we saw that they should also be first responders, social workers, paramedics, responders to antisocial behaviour (ASB), health visitors and support workers, and the list goes on. Now there is an expectation that the police should climb ladders to remove flags from DFI's property without the training or tools to do so safely. At the same time, I see the PSNI stepping up as much as it can, and more so because of the recent Crime and Policing Act, to remove the flags of paramilitary and terrorist organisations. The PSNI is there to support, and DFI's staff need to be confident that they will not face hostile reprisal. Lastly, self-regulation needs to be roundly rejected as a solution. It is precisely because it does not work that the Bill has been introduced. Earlier in the debate, my constituency colleague Mr Brooks mentioned the flags near Ballyhackamore. He stated that the flags go up and many of the residents in that street are not happy about it. Let the record show that residents on the street are overwhelmingly against the erection of flags, which have been erected there for the first time since 2022.

680 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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