Loyalist paramilitary flags had to be taken down from a children’s playpark and sports pitches last month.
Belfast City Council is to make an audit of flags and banners flown by third parties on council property after loyalist paramilitary flags had to be taken down from a children’s playpark and sports pitches last month.
At the latest council committee meeting, elected representatives agreed that in relation to the display of flags in some council owned assets, an audit would be undertaken, including the council’s leisure facilities.
Officers will count and name all the council assets with flags and banners attached, with a view to removing them. The decision will have to be ratified by the full council later this week.
READ MORE: Plans for fences in South Belfast park go “against the wishes of residents”
At the December meeting of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, Sinn Féin Councillor Ryan Murphy said: “In relation to the display of flags, in North Belfast, a children’s playpark and MUGA is currently bedecked with UDA and UFF flags.
“It was victims who came forward to myself and raised this one, and I am concerned that we are waiting for a report at a later point in relation to how we are going to take steps to remove this, and what it does in terms of our reputation as a council. We need to be taking steps now.”
Chief Executive of Belfast City Council, John Walsh, interjected by stating the flags had been removed from the MUGA in question. The name of the exact public park in North Belfast was not disclosed.
Councillor Ryan Murphy replied: “I appreciate the steps that have been taken to do that, but obviously there was a length of time between when this was initially highlighted and when they were removed.”
Sinn Féin Councillor Ciaran Beattie asked if all flags had been removed from all council assets. The Chief Executive replied: “Not at this time, but that one was prioritised.”
Councillor Beattie said: “That is the worry. And this needs a paper to come back, to any committee. Because there shouldn’t be any flags, I mean any flags, or banners, or posters, on any of our assets.
“And when and where they arise, they should be removed. So I don’t understand why this has taken so long. We are talking years that some of these flags have been above community centres. Community centres are for everyone, not just for one section of the community. Why are they not being removed?”
The Chief Executive replied: “Because traditionally the approach to these issues has been to engage through communities, and this was long before me by the way, in order to get around to a better position in terms of resolution, without causing community tension. That has been the approach for many years.”
Councillor Beattie said: “Under previous directives on posts, they were taken down at night. It was reported.” The Chief Executive replied: “On that MUGA, that is certainly what happened, but not in respect of other facilities.”
Alliance Councillor Michael Long said: “I welcome the fact there has been movement at this site, but there are nine other sites. A couple of them I understand have less issues, because there is a very long and wide site.
“But I am not interested in ‘community engagement,’ because I know what that means. It does not mean talking to the actual community, it means talking to the ‘gatekeepers’ of those communities, and I totally object to those people having a say in terms of our grounds.
“We have made it pretty clear what we are expecting on all of those issues, without having to come back to another S,P and R Committee after this one.” He said: “The current way of doing things is unacceptable” and added “the flags in North Belfast are terrible, they amount to terror related organisations that are allowed to stay on our grounds for a long time.”
He added: “The principle should be where these things go up, we remove them quickly, so there isn’t an opportunity for there to be problems.”
DUP Councillor Sarah Bunting said: “It is a trope to say community engagement means engaging with gatekeepers. (Regarding) the flag on Finaghy Community Centre, the engagement I had with communities was with a woman from the local community group, and I think she would take offence at being classed as a gatekeeper, or any insinuation she was anything other than a volunteer who works in her community.
“She has been there for her lifetime, (helping) many of the residents who live there, and they feel they would like to keep their identity flying there.”
The Chief Executive said: “I have made it clear, these things should not be on our civic buildings, where we provide a service to the public.” He said if there was a “clear mandate” council officers would do an audit of all council facilities, and added: “If anything is there it will be removed.”
SDLP Councillor Séamas de Faoite said: “I am aware of a school who wanted to hold a Teddy Bear picnic as part of their Open Day, who were told they couldn’t have banners on the fences of our parks. My understanding is that there shouldn’t be banners, and that is the position anyway, and it is not a case of us setting a new position.”
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