Another flag row is last thing we need

IN a normal society the proposed flying of the Union flag over Government buildings every day of the year would be a non-controversial subject, barely worth debate. But, as we all know, Northern Ireland is not a normal society and the issue of flags is very much a blue touchpaper subject.

DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson knew fine well when he made the suggestion yesterday that it had no realistic chance of gaining cross-community support.

In 2012 the debate on how many days the flag should fly over Belfast City Hall ignited loyalist violence and street protests on a massive scale.

The Alliance Party, which had shamefully been blamed for curtailing the flying of the flag, saw offices petrol bombed and elected representatives threatened.

The irony was it was an Alliance amendment that meant the flag was allowed to be raised on a number of designated days in face of nationalist/republican opposition.

Given our troubled history and the penchant for both the DUP and Sinn Fein to provoke each other even as they share power, flying the flag every day on all Government buildings is a non-starter. One only has to look at the recent decision by Sinn Fein not to agree to the erection of a memorial stone to mark the centenary of Northern Ireland to see the mindset at play.

That opposition came even as the unionist parties said they were willing to pay for the stone from their own pockets.

It is difficult to see what principle was at play in Sinn Fein’s decision.

When the SDLP and Ulster Unionists first agreed to share power after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, there appeared to be an unwritten acceptance constitutional matters would be largely off the table. After all, there is no way of squaring a circle which has diametrically opposed political ambitions at play.

Such maturity is not evident among Sinn Fein and the DUP, even all these years later.

We have to accept we don’t live in a perfect society. No matter what Sir Jeffrey or other unionists feel, this place is not as British as Finchley, Cardiff or Edinburgh.

It makes much more sense to listen to the likes of actor James Nesbitt, who launched a video in support of the Shared Island Dialogue, an initiative launched by the Taoiseach last Autumn.

As he points out, times are changing; young people don’t care about the issues which plagued previous generations.

Instead of focusing on the issues that divide us, we should explore our common ground. That way lies a better society.