Every imported question, contribution and motion, with its classification. Unflagged, uncertain and not-yet-analysed records are all included so the analysis can be checked independently.
I thank the Member for giving way. From your reading of the Bill, is it clear, at any point, who will be in charge of determining whether such flags will remain up or come down? Furthermore, if that new unit — that Parades Commission mark II for flags — is enacted, how many staff will it require and what will be the…
At the outset, I acknowledge the serious amount of work that the Member for South Belfast has put into her Member's Bill. It is not an easy task to undertake. I had a very uncontroversial Member's Bill go through successfully in the previous term, and I know what that meant to me as an individual. I therefore…
Yes, without question. When it is Pride Week in Belfast, put the flags up and take them down. I know, however, that the organisers of Belfast Pride would use the portal. That is the point. People would then know why the flags were up and who would take them down.
Yes. The unintended consequences of the legislation are manifold. We talk all the time about the need for good community relations. I genuinely believe and fear that community relations could suffer as a result of implementing and imposing the legislation; not negating the fact that it could also place local DFI staff…
I thank the Member for giving way. Does the Member agree that it is concerning and, again, highlights the dangerous nature of the legislation that the Bill sponsor cannot open her mind to see the unintended consequences of creating interfaces and bringing unrest to the communities that have not seen it in many years?
First, you say that I am creating those scenarios. I picked them out of the code of practice from the FICT report that all five parties were involved in, so I have not started prescribing new areas. The church scenario is a really good one. That is a sensitive place. I have included in that clause that the views of…
Thank you. Again, we have an example where the Bill sponsor does not want to deal with the more awkward issues. I return to the Newtownards Road and the area around Pitt Park in particular. It is a loyalist working-class area that has been attacked and where people were killed by gunfire from the tower of the Catholic…
FlaggedSectarianism, hate crime and community relationsCriteria met: Identity framing, Cultural grievance politics, Dog-whistle messaging.
You are creating new scenarios as a result of that. I have said clearly that there are people who cannot stand the sight of a Union flag, no matter where it flies in Northern Ireland. We have mentioned places of worship, and I outlined examples that would be given. That is a concern of mine. That is why I cannot…
So that would be deemed a sensitive place. On new housing developments, you say that you need dialogue, but, if nobody has moved into the houses, whom will you have dialogue with? Clearly, it will be people from another area. On interface areas — come on, guys — we should be trying to neutralise those spaces as…
OK. I know that there is academic research on the mapping of it. However, last week, my South Belfast colleague Matthew O'Toole asked about areas such as motorways that are not alongside an established community, for example. You cannot have dialogue with people in such places. I want to pick up a point that keeps…