Search Results for: flag protest

Recognising the Tricolour in NI is central to resolving flags dispute

| Readers 2791

There will be no resolution to our vexed flags dispute unless and until the Irish National flag is afforded formal recognition within Northern Ireland. Three years ago today, I posted about a Platform for Change public discussion on the theme of Flags and Identity. Three years later and, apart from the loyalist flags protest dying out, nothing has really changed in northern Irish society in relation to the wider flags stand-off.

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Flags: Towards a New Understanding – launch of report on public buildings & unofficial flags

| Readers 2023

RED FLAG – Will Paul Nolan and Dominic Bryan’s suggestion that politically expedient zero sum game if the Assembly legislates for all councils to fly the Union flag on 18 designated days, while local voluntary agreements offer the best way to tackle unpopular unofficial flags.

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Protestant Identity, Vulnerability and Bonfires.

| Readers 2787

Chris Jenkins writes for us about his experiences touring some bonfires last summer…. The cameraman runs up towards the bonfire. The wooden pallets tower over him. Teenagers begin to light the colossal structure with flaming torches. “He’s gone too close”, I think straight away. The fire started to move quickly, and the young men lighting it stayed a step ahead, using their torches to light the petrol in the middle of the wooden structure. One of the teenagers who we …

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The Contested Identities of Ulster Protestants, edited by Burgess and Mulvenna – Book Review

| Readers 2964

Edited academic collections are often technical and specialized – appealing to academics, but offering little to other readers interested in the topic. The Contested Identities of Ulster Protestants (Palgrave 2015), edited by Thomas Paul Burgess (UCC) and Gareth Mulvenna (Queen’s) is an exception to this trend, as it draws in an eclectic range of contributors from academia and beyond. (Unfortunately, the book carries an academic price tag – £68 – which places it beyond the ‘reasonable’ price range for most.) …

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Brian Kennaway and Dominic Bryan on ‘The Historical and Social Impact of Flags and Symbols on our Society’

| Readers 2098

The Irish Association and the Institute of Irish Studies at Queen’s hosted a seminar on ‘The Historical and Social Impact of Flags and Symbols on our Society’ on Tuesday. Kennaway is a Presbyterian minister, past president of the Irish Association, and author of The Orange Order: A Tradition Betrayed. Bryan is director of the Institute of Irish Studies and Reader in Social Anthropology at Queen’s. He may be known to some Slugger readers as the researcher who has consistently, year on …

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Eat Your Children: chasing the lost unicorn of Irish citizen protest #bff15

| Readers 682

“We’re not Ireland, we will resist” (Greek austerity protest chant) Has Ireland lost its protest mojo? Flatmates Treasa O’Brien and Mary Jane O’Leary bailed out of Ireland to study in London and Barcelona. Partly motivated by the Greek chant and surprised by the contrast behind high profile citizen action in countries like Spain and the lack of news reaching them from Ireland, the friends came back to their homeland and toured around in a white Transit van to make a …

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“turning attacks on flags into a tax on flags” – launch of FlagIt app for Apple & Android

| Readers 1553

Responding to sustained protests over the absence of the Union Flag above many Northern Ireland public buildings, the FlagIt app has been released in Apple and Android online stores this morning, priced £2.29. Users of FlagIt can add a missing flag to any picture or video that contains an empty flagpole. And if they hold up their mobile device and look through it in front of a public building, the app will seamlessly insert a fluttering Union Flag. FlagIt relies …

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Photo of the day – Catalan Independence Protest At Belfast City Hall

| Readers 466

Photo by Belfast Snapper  taken Saturday October the 4th 2014  Flag protests are no stranger to City Hall but for variety here is one in support of Catalan independence. Recently 1.8 million people took to the streets of Barcelona to demand independence, more than the entire population of Northern Ireland – impressive.  

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Erect flags in mixed communities? Earn a pass from PSNI. Shout a slogan? End up in court.

| Readers 106

If ever an episode captured the reason why faith remains weak in the PSNI’s ability or desire to perform its duties on a consistent, non-partisan basis, then it is this. The PSNI arrested and charged, on the count of disorderly behaviour, a man on March 23 for shouting ‘Tiocfaidh ar la’ in the direction of PSNI officers. The judge who found the defendant guilty stated that his words met the criminal test of annoying members of the public. Let’s dwell …

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Dearg Doom, Rainbow flags & The Beautiful Game at Solitude

| Readers 250

15 months ago, I made a decision to start taking my (then) 5-year old son to football matches. I’d always thought it would be a fantastic hobby to develop with my boy but was somewhat reluctant to start him so young- partly as I thought he’d not have a clue about what was happening on the pitch, and partly due to the history of sectarianism associated with the local football scene. My own experiences of being a pretty active Cliftonville …

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Nesbitt recommends politics over further street protests; McCallister disses talk of “culture wars” in speech to Ulster GAA

| Readers 99

In other non-SDLP news, the Belfast Telegraph report that Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt has told party colleagues via an internal bulletin that the tactic of flag protests should cease. The tactics used to protest over the flag have alienated many who instinctively supported the cause … He warned against disrupting Belfast city centre and its traders for a second Christmas. I hear talk of rallies, parades and protests. As ever, I understand and support the right for lawful and …

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For over 20 years, Slugger has been an independent place for debate and new ideas. We have published over 40,000 posts and over one and a half million comments on the site. Each month we have over 70,000 readers. All this we have accomplished with only volunteers we have never had any paid staff.

Slugger does not receive any funding, and we respect our readers, so we will never run intrusive ads or sponsored posts. Instead, we are reader-supported. Help us keep Slugger independent by becoming a friend of Slugger. While we run a tight ship and no one gets paid to write, we need money to help us cover our costs.

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Lord Empey attacks Alliance Party for flags, participation in Irish Constitutional Convention and issues warning to Dublin government

| Readers 136

Listening back to Lord Empey’s opening statement at today’s UUP conference, his comments seemed worthy of a post on their own. In his nine minute address he predictably attacked the Alliance Party’s role in the Belfast City Council Union flag vote, explained why they shouldn’t be viewed as Unionist, and questioned their role in the Irish Constitutional Convention. He also laid down a white line over allowing Northerners to vote in Irish elections that the Irish Government shouldn’t cross if …

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DUP call on parade protests to be “peaceful and legal” and “within the law”

| Readers 68

Ten months on from the beginning of the flag protests, it looks like DUP is finally applying foresight and making its position clear in advance of potential trouble. Addressing the Orange Order’s plans to “up-scale [protests] right up to civil disobedience if that’s what it takes”, Arlene Foster told BBC NI’s Sunday Politics show: We very much defend the right of people to protest on any issue. But what must happen, and I do make this very clear, is that …

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50,000 protesters hope Cameron’s next Act will be a disappearing one

| Readers 50

While the Tory Party was preparing to open its 2013 party conference on Sunday with a tribute to Margaret Thatcher – a 10-minute video which received a standing ovation and left many with a tear in their eye – tens of thousands of protestors made their way through streets of Manchester to censure the government’s privatisation plans and their impact on jobs and the quality of health care on a march to #SaveOurNHS. The 50,000 strong rally made its way …

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Challenges for Protestants in “Dealing with the Past”

| Readers 116

The second session at the all day PSA/Fellowship of Messines workshop – Has the Protestant Working Class lost out in the Peace Process? – looked back at some of the events and experiences that shaped loyalism. It didn’t particularly address “dealing with the past” in terms of societal remembering, truth commissions etc. (Yesterday’s post documented the first session which covered the history, culture and politics of the Protestant working class – it’s good to see that it attracted an on …

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Has the Protestant Working Class lost out in the Peace Process?

| Readers 445

That’s the title of a workshop that brought together working class loyalist representatives with some peers from other communities, interested academics and a small number of journalists. The day long event was organised by Dr Aaron Edwards and supported by the Political Studies Association’s Irish Politics Specialist Group and the Fellowship of Messines Association. In an earlier post I posted an interview with PUP leader Billy Hutchinson at the close of the workshop. With four sessions looking at different aspects …

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Billy Hutchinson: talking at rallies and protests doesn’t necessarily make you a leader

| Readers 169

Billy Hutchinson – leader of the PUP – said during a workshop on Thursday that the media often used the word “loyalist” as a shortcut to mean “criminal”. He quoted the example of a DUP councillor up in court for some misdemeanour who was described in a newspaper as a “loyalist” rather than a “member of the DUP”. I asked him afterwards whether there is much the PUP can do to address the media’s perception of loyalism? One of the …

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PSNI responsible for “persecution of the Protestant people” – DUP

| Readers 130

A prominent DUP elected representative has launched a fierce attack on the PSNI at a loyalist gathering in Carrickfergus. Addressing a rally organized by Carrickfergus United Loyalists in the town yesterday, DUP councillor Ruth Patterson delivered a scathing attack on the PSNI, accusing the police of being responsible for “the persecution of the Protestant people” and of “beating our women and our children off the streets.”  From Ruth’s speech: “[I am] Ashamed of the PSNI at the minute. The political …

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Sinn Féin ard fheis gets underway with motions on candidate gender, flags, Royal Exchange and Easter Lily stickers (updated)

| Readers 93

Sinn Féin’s ard fheis gets underway this evening in Castlebar, County Mayo. Martin McGuinness will give his now-traditional Friday night keynote, followed by debate around motions on a United Ireland and the peace process. The majority of the business is tomorrow – with blocks of motions debated throughout the day, peppered with a band of two minute speeches around 11am that will be carried live on RTE. Party president Gerry Adams closes the ard fheis with his speech at 8.30pm. …

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The PSNI have lost any moral authority to intervene to clear roads of protestors in advance of contentious loyalist parades through sectarian interfaces. Discuss.

| Readers 77

The PSNI have lost any moral authority to intervene to clear roads of protestors in advance of contentious loyalist parades through sectarian interfaces. Discuss. We’re running at a rate of way less than 1 protestor charged per illegal road blockade to date- indeed, were the PSNI operating at the 2010 Ardoyne rate, there’d be thousands in the dock by now. Given the paucity of charges to date brought against those engaged in illegal road blockades, the PSNI will correctly be …

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