The NI Conservatives’ co-chair has described any suggestion that councils could ‘opt out’ of protocols around flags as ‘pretty pointless’. Trevor Ringland was reacting to reports of Dr Haass’s proposals for an agreement on flags, parades and the past, which were put to the Northern Ireland executive parties yesterday.
“If the media reports are accurate it is concerning and it doesn’t bode well for a durable solution to the flags issue”, Trevor remarked. “The crux of the problem with the status quo is that there is no Northern Ireland wide solution or protocol. It’s clear that if councils can opt out of flying the Union Flag altogether, or if other councils can fly it all year round, we’ve moved no nearer to an answer. That’s the position which made the issue divisive in the first place, it’s the issue which was botched, particularly by the Alliance Party, when it came to City Hall and it is an issue which causes a chill factor in some areas to certain parts of the community.”
“The Union Flag’s significance is that it reflects Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom. It is a symbol that we accept the principle of consent, which was the foundation of the Belfast Agreement. It should not be flown to assert the identity of one part of the community, but it should be flown on council HQs and government buildings on designated days. If that basic tenet isn’t accepted, we’re saying that some areas belong more to one side of the community or another and we’re saying that the principle of consent will be respected less in some areas of Northern Ireland than others. In other words we’ve moved no further on at all. These talks need to see a different attitude to politics, so that it is about reconciling people, rather than creating more divisions.”