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.
Yes, so there are people. There is no SDLP MLA in my constituency, but there are SDLP councillors. I work with all of them across the political divide. The one thing that I will say is that, in the example of Irvinestown that I pointed out, no political representatives were involved in the discussion. That points to…
The West Winds. The Glen. The Bowtown. I do not see very many people attending the community meetings there. I say to the Member that there are more than two communities. There are a lot more people out there who are not just nationalist and not just unionist. There are also nationalists and unionists who are…
I thank the Member very much. When a tricolour went up in Portaferry, I could not send people to the SDLP or Sinn Féin MLA offices, because there are none in my area. I work extremely hard in my Strangford constituency, to the extent that my staff and I are in and out of loyalist estates where the DUP does not go. I…
That is absolutely the case. If the Alliance Member's contribution has done nothing else, it has shown us that her party has no traction, no influence and no interest in loyalist working-class communities, and perhaps working-class communities as a whole, because, when working-class communities are affected, what does…
FlaggedSectarianism, hate crime and community relationsCriteria met: Identity framing, Controversy escalation.
There are a lot of interventions. I am very popular. Mr Frew is right. I said earlier — Hold on a minute. I said earlier that I had a concern that the unionist community and the loyalist community were going to bear the brunt of the legislation. We have just seen clearly from the Member's intervention that that is the…
FlaggedDecided on a second assessment.Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorialsCriteria met: Identity framing, Cultural grievance politics.
I thank the Member for giving way. I congratulate her, because, through her remarks and her intervention, she has teased out and exposed what the Alliance Party wants to do here. The Member who intervened said that, if people in her constituency have a problem with flags, she sends them to the UUP or the DUP. Not once…
FlaggedFlags, emblems, symbols, names and memorialsCriteria met: Identity framing, Cultural grievance politics, Controversy escalation.
Well, I am sorry, but it is a mainly nationalist community and a unionist community, and they had dialogue, spoke to one another and came to an agreement. If they had to go through a portal to do all that, there could be concern and worry about what that might mean for community tensions. Would one be deemed…
I will take you to Fermanagh and South Tyrone any day, where you will see good community relations happening where flags fly. In an intervention earlier, I pointed to Irvinestown, where the Twelfth was happening and there was a GAA club that had done very well. I see my colleague from Fermanagh and South Tyrone…
I thank the Member for giving way. I am a bit confused, because the Bill does not stop anyone from having a celebration. It allows people to apply to put flags up for a time and to get agreement on when to take them down again. I am concerned, because there seems to be a belief that only one community will be…
I thank the Member for giving way. I believe that even law-abiding citizens will not use the portal, because a person could notify the Department for Infrastructure that they are going to line the footpaths of the Newtownards Road with Union flags on every other lamp post, but another organisation could come along the…
It raises a question about some places, such as the Newtownards Road in my constituency. It very clearly goes through the heart of a loyalist, working-class community. It is also "an arterial road", which the Bill refers to as one of those sensitive places. Not only on 1 July or 12 July but throughout the summer…
I thank the Member for giving way. Again, it might be the way in which we have ordered the clauses, but the Bill's starting point is that we want to allow people to have celebrations and commemorations without interference with the erection and affixation of their flags and emblems. They can use the portal. If they…
I thank the Member for giving way. Again, she is making the case for my Bill. We want consistency. It may be that national flags go up that are not inherently intimidating, and that is why I included the provision to determine whether a flag or emblem has been displayed for an excessive period. I did so so that it…
I thank the Member for his intervention. He makes an important point. Every year, my local newspaper carries stories about how Union flags will go up in towns and villages in my constituency for the Twelfth or for Ulster Day to celebrate and commemorate events that are important to our cultural identity. Flags and…
I thank the Member for giving way. Earlier in the debate, I talked about flags of a loyalist nature. I gave the example of the historical UVF flag and that of the modern-day paramilitary group and spoke about how dates can be used to cloud the waters. Does the Member agree that, on the republican side, the flags that…