Union Flag

Another concession by the majority to the minority.
Belfast City Council has just voted in FAVOUR of not flying the Union Flag on its buildings unless it is a special occassion.
EVERY day is a special occassion. We have our freedom and the people of NI have the right to fly the Union Flag as they are part off The United Kingdom!!!

On another forum (No name No pack drill) someone called the Union Flag ""A bit of Cloth"" which made me very angry!!!I haven't seen his reply to my request that the rescind the remark!!!

One of the things that strikes me about the conflict in NI is that progress only started to be made when people started to make compromises. When people were prepared to drop the "Never, never, never" rhetoric (on both sides) and start thinking about what could be done to remove any excuse to start throwing petrol bombs about.

It seems to me that Belfast City Council feel that things are likely to be more peaceful if they are more discerning about when they fly the Union Flag. If so, I applaud them. It seems (to me at least, with no vested interest in the matter) a compromise worth making.

It would appear that Belfast City Council didn't think this through and the result is the anger felt by the Unionist community.
My mother has lived in NI all her life and having spoken to her tonight to get it from "The horses mouth" so to speak. It would appear that the Alliance Party, which is NON sectarian, alligned itself with Sein Fein and the SDLP hence their offices etc being attacked. The Unionists feel and always have done, that due to the Good Friday Agreement the Nationalist have got far too much out off the deal. All the thugs and murderers from the IRA were released to wander the streets again and as we have seen recently the Real IRA has raised its ugly head again. UVF thugs ect were also released as part of the deal.
One has to live "over the water" to know the depth of feeling in NI about this issue as they are very pro the Union and DO NOT want to be part of a united Ireland>
can you imagine the forore if say Birmingham or some other city with a large * Inappropriate Word * population, took down the Union Flag and raises a * Inappropriate Word * one in its place???
As Enouch Powell said all those years "There will be rivers of blood in the streets"
Stand by for more fireworks as Hillary Clinton is due to visit NI in a few days time

In my humble opinion, a lot of people need to step back from the history and try to look forward.

As I've already said, I have no axe to grind. I think there's a lot to be gained by considering who's interests are served by simply looking at this as conflict - and it doesn't seem as though the ordinary people on either side will benefit if it is. Flying a flag - or not flying a flag - it's not a life-or-death issue, or at least should not (IMO) be made into one.

Level heads on this will find a way forward. Reaction based on what has happened in the past will probably not.

Was there any rioting BEFORE the council took down the flag?? .....no.....but by doing
so, they seem to have stirred up a hornets nest, there is a limit to concessions you can
make before swinging the pendulam the other way.
I have served in NI as has my son, who married a local girl and settled there after leaving
the Arrmy and has lived there for the last 20 years.

Ray

This seems to be portrayed by some as a unilateral decision by nationalists - but it wasn't. It was a cross-party agreement made by democratically elected councillors, and was agreed by a majority of 29 to 21.

How are you going to convince people that democracy and consensus are the way forward - and that they should abandon violence and conflict - if you then tell them that their councillors are not allowed to decide when to fly a flag on one of their buildings?

One of the inevitable consequences of democracy is that no single faction will always get what they want.