Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
DUP ALL AFLUTTER IN NEW FLAG ROW
Call to fly the Fears NI is out Union Jack every of step with new day of the year... Union review plan
THE DUP has called for new UK government guidance to be extended to Northern Ireland allowing the Union flag to be flown from public buildings all year.
The flag is to be displayed on government buildings in Great Britain every day under new guidelines from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
At present it is flown on around 20 designated days in England, Scotland and Wales but from the summer it can be erected all year round.
However, in Northern Ireland the flag will continue to be flown only on designated days.
Flags and emblems remain contentious among divided communities.
In 2012 a decision by Belfast City Council to reduce the number of days on which the Union flag was flown from the City Hall sparked widespread protests and disorder.
DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson yesterday said it is “bizarre” the UK government is “only deciding in 2021 to fly the Union flag, the flag of our nation, on all government buildings every day”.
He added: “The decision to exclude Northern Ireland at this stage is wrong and runs contrary to New Decade, New Approach which sought to align us with the rest of the UK when it came to the Union flag being flown on government buildings.
“This is a matter we will be pressing the Government to address.”
Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK where designated days for flag-flying are enshrined in law.
In the New Decade, New Approach deal which restored devolution last year, Westminster agreed to increase
Northern Ireland’s designated dates by three to bring them into line with Britain.
It said this would mean the “same designated days will be observed in Northern Ireland as in the rest of the UK going forward”.
Alliance deputy leader Stephen Farry said it was appropriate for Northern Ireland to have different regulations given the divisions over flags.
He told BBC Radio Ulster yesterday: “You have to of course recognise that Northern Ireland is a divided society and people do have different views on this issue.
“So it is something to be approached with a degree of sensitivity.
“More broadly, I am somewhat depressed that we are back discussing the flying of flags and that there are many other important issues going on in our society we need to address.” Meanwhile, the UK government on Wednesday published a long-awaited review on strengthening the Union. Among the recommendations are a dedicated cabinet post, a fund for Uk-wide projects “to incentivise” co-operation between the four nations, and placing UK government branding on projects it funds in the devolved regions.
However, Mr Farry was sceptical about the review.
He said: “English nationalism seems to be dictating the decisions of the UK government and in particular you can’t ignore the issue of Brexit. Simply moving around civil servants, symbolic use of flags, doesn’t really cut it.”|
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