Debate contribution: Display of Flags, Emblems and Banners

Debate contribution by Ms Connie Egan on 30 April 2024.

MLA

Ms Connie Egan

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

30 April 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Display of Flags, Emblems and Banners

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4487389

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I support the motion. The Alliance Party's position on flags should not come as a surprise to anyone, and the issue is regularly raised with me by constituents. Every year, we see flags erected on street furniture without any community consultation, to the frustration of many residents. Far too often, the flags promote proscribed paramilitary organisations. I live in a diverse and welcoming community, and many constituents feel frustrated that they do not have a say in the display of flags in their area. It creates an impression that our public space is for only one section of the community to live and work in. Flags that promote paramilitary organisations create a chill factor, and a fear factor for local residents. I recently submitted a question for written answer to the Infrastructure Minister to ask how many of the flags his Department has removed in the past five years. I was shocked to learn that the answer is none. Not a single flag that promotes a proscribed paramilitary organisation has been removed from our street furniture by the Department responsible in the past five years. When I contact —.

Yes, I will give way.

Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. I absolutely agree that you cannot eat a flag. My understanding is that there are regulations, on which I hope that all parties can agree, about political posters and advertising on our street furniture. As I was saying, not a single flag promoting a proscribed organisation has been removed by the Department responsible in the past five years. When I contact the PSNI to remove a flag, it says that it cannot and will not, as it is DFI's responsibility. That approach of passing the buck is simply not good enough. If a Department and the PSNI cannot tackle something as simple as removing from public property a flag that promotes a terrorist organisation, how on earth can the communities living with the scourge of paramilitary influence have confidence that the PSNI can effectively tackle all the other criminality carried out by those organisations?

I genuinely believe that there is an opportunity to create a framework to ensure that our public spaces are shared spaces that are open and welcome to all but that do not deny the opportunity to those who wish to celebrate their culture at an event in their community. The Alliance Party tabled today's motion because we believe that the Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition's report provides a practical solution and framework to approaching the issue: the code of practice, at paragraph 11.48. It encompasses three aspects: respect for the flag, respect for the community and respect for the event. Our public space belongs to us all. As such, it is important that residents have a stake in their community. Residents of areas where flags are displayed should know who is putting up the flags and for how long they will be displayed. A framework for community consultation to ensure the principles of respect and consent for the erection of flags would be a meaningful and appropriate measure to underpin the code of practice. Although the FICT report includes the code of practice for the respectful display of flags, we also have evidence and proposals from another review, which has not been mentioned so far: the review of hate crime legislation, produced and led by Judge Desmond Marrinan. Chapter 10 of 'Hate crime legislation in Northern Ireland: Independent Review' deals with removing hate expressions from public spaces and speaks extensively about how flags and emblems are used as a symbol of hate in Northern Ireland. The Marrinan hate crime review's recommendation 15 says:

"There should be a clear and unambiguous statutory duty on relevant public authorities including Councils, the Department for Infrastructure and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, to take all reasonable steps to remove hate expression from their own property and, where it engages their functions, broader public space."

The review continued to expand on this, to say that this includes the context in which flags are placed, and included an example of where:

"paramilitary flags/national flags placed on a lamppost of a new housing development where the context will have the effect of deterring the ‘other’ community from living in the area."

The report continues to say that this:

"would involve careful and measured judgement from a public authority. The precise legal formulation of such an important statutory duty will require detailed consideration."

That is exactly why we brought the motion to call on the First Minister and deputy First Minister to consult on and develop a legal framework for the flying of flags on public property. As my colleague said:

"'shared space' does not mean 'neutral space'".

I genuinely believe that we have an opportunity here to promote good relations and understanding in our communities by agreeing a lawful framework through which we can display flags.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:02 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

Disagree with this assessment?

Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.

Challenge this classification