Flags legislation will protect freedom of expression says Paula Bradshaw

The issue of flags is one that has caused widespread debate in Northern Ireland for decades but that could be set to change if Alliance Party South Belfast MLA Paula Bradshaw is successful in passing her Private Members Bill which will seek to regulate what flags can be flown, when they can be flown and where they can be flown.

The Alliance Party is no stranger to taking action on flag flying. Their intervention allowed the Union Flag to be flown on designated days at Belfast City Hall when others sought its removal altogether, and more recently, they have been at the centre of controversy around the flying of flags at war memorials in Ards and North Down.

However, with this piece of legislation, Paula Bradshaw hopes to take action where the Executive Office has yet to implement the recommendations of the Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition Commission (FICT) report which was published more than three years ago.

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Speaking to Belfast Live about her proposals, Paula Bradshaw said that issues around flags are a "perennial" issue within her constituency and more often than not, people are contacting her to ask when the flags will be coming down again.

"What I'm trying to is bring forward some proposals for a legislative framework through which flags can be flown lawfully, but there is transparency around who's putting them up, what type of flags, why they're going up and probably for most people who've contacted me, when they're coming down again," she said.

"It protects freedom of expression. But it also then allows our shared spaces to be inclusive and where everybody feels that they're welcome and it's not a form of territory marking."

Central to Ms Bradshaw's proposals is the idea of a 'Code of Conduct' for flag-flying across Northern Ireland, which reflects the recommendations of the yet-to-be-enacted £800,000 FICT report.

"The code of conduct would really be on the face of the Bill and that would be around trying to put forward the sort of legislative requirements that you would demonstrate," she said.

"For example, I had a constituent there recently saying, I've got a flag outside our local Catholic church, so the code of conduct would make sure that it's things like flags not going up outside a place of religion, not outside schools, not outside public services, and maybe some other, but we're consulting on those and we do want to hear from people whether they feel that we should be that prescriptive about where they go, whether they're on arterial routes, whether there's a different set of rules for example in housing developments.

"We just want to see if there's a way in which we can streamline the process, and that I think that if there was an overriding code of practice, then I think people would all understand why they can put them up and where."

Part of the proposals which the South Belfast MLA is currently consulting on could include an outright ban on the display of flags and emblems which represent proscribed organisations in shared public spaces. This is something that Paula Bradshaw has said will require input from the Infrastructure Committee to decide which flags and emblems would be banned.

When asked if this ban could include flags such as the Union Flag, Ulster Banner or Irish Tricolour, which could be argued all have connections to a number of proscribed organisations, Paula Bradshaw responded: "For the avoidance of doubt the Union flag, the Tricolour, Ulster Banner, that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about ones that would be seen by some as glorifying terrorism or a certain paramilitary organisation.

"We in the Alliance Party, we're really about trying to create shared spaces. We're about trying to create inclusive communities and I do recognise that there's some people who feel that this is maybe an attack on their culture, but as somebody who represents South Belfast, there are, for everybody who feels that there are other people who would like the flags never to be erected and never to go up.

"One day is too long for a lot of people, so what I'm trying to do through these proposals is come through, bring through a framework where flags can be flown, but there is that transparency around it and where everybody feels that they have some control and some power.

"Constituents sometimes wake up in the morning, the flags are up and they feel very despondent, where others may wake up and see them up and think, isn't that great, the 12th is coming. So it's really about trying to find a mature way forward where everyone feels that their own sense of identity and place is respected."

The consultation will run until the end of March and will inform the wording of the proposed legislation before it enters the legislative process in the Assembly.

"There will be other opportunities for people to feed into the development of the legislation and to get their views known to their political representatives on the committee. We have a long road ahead, but I do want to hear from loads of people at this stage so that we can draft the legislation in a way that reflects as many opinions as possible," Paula added.

The public consultation can be accessed here.

Video by Harry Bateman/Belfast Live.

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