Police in the North have again come under attack from loyalist protesters after a Union flag demonstration turned ugly.
Officers were pelted with petrol bombs, fireworks and other missiles in the Rathcoole area of Newtownabbey in north Belfast on Friday evening. A bus was also set on fire during the disorder and police officers had to deploy water cannons in a bid to restore calm.
Earlier on Friday the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) submitted a formal complaint to Belfast City Council following their decision to restrict the flying of the Union flag, which could lead to legal action being taken.
The change to only hoisting the flag on designated days like royal birthdays was endorsed by nationalists and the cross-community Alliance Party at the start of December.
A Belfast City Council spokeswoman said: “The decision to introduce the policy of flying the Union flag at City Hall was taken democratically by elected members at the monthly meeting of Belfast City Council on December 3.
“The council has taken legal advice throughout this process and the decision is in keeping with the outcome of the equality impact assessment that was undertaken in line with the advice of the Equality Commission.
“The designated days agreed are in keeping with those notified by the UK Government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport.”
After weeks of demonstrations which have sparked full scale-riots, sixty-six police officers have been injured during the trouble.
And it doesn't look like it’s going to stop any time soon as a series of protests, dubbed Operation Standstill resulted in many roads being blocked off between 6pm and 8pm as loyalist protesters again took to the streets to voice their opposition to Belfast City Council’s decision to limit the number of days the Union flag flies at City Hall, according to the Newsletter.
Rugby fans travelling to Ravenhill in east Belfast for Ulster’s crunch Heineken Cup game against Glasgow faced major disruption due to the numerous flag demonstrations across Northern Ireland in co-ordinated action dubbed ‘Operation Standstill’ by organisers.
But the city centre was not as empty as might have been expected after an online campaign urged people to defy the protests and stage an “Operation sit-in” in cafes, pubs and restaurants to give businesses hit by the six-week campaign of street action a much-needed boost to trade.
In Carrickfergus police fired one baton round as serious disorder broke out following a protest.
A large crowd of rioters hurled bricks, bottles and fireworks at officers in the West Street area of the Co Antrim town.
Councillor John Hussey, secretary of the DUP group on Belfast city council,said the decision to only fly the flag on designated days is in breach of BCC's equality scheme and the complaint is the first step towards possible legal action.
"We believe that both in its processes and in its decision over the removal of the Union flag Belfast City Council made multiple breaches of its published and legally required equality scheme," said Mr Hussey.
“The DUP is committed to pursuing all political avenues to overturning the disastrous decision by Sinn Fein, SDLP and the Alliance party and to repairing the harm to good relations and a shared future it has caused.”
"As with the launch of the Unionist Forum, through this initiative my party wishes to demonstrate that there are political alternatives to protests and most especially to violence."
Councillors in Craigavon have voted to review their flag policy, which could lead to the Union flag being displayed all year round rather than the current designated days. Meanwhile on Limavady council, nationalists defeated a unionist motion to start flying the flag there on designated days.
One protest is even scheduled for Liverpool, England on Friday at 6pm and a further demonstration in Bristol, England on Saturday.
The Alliance Party, which controls the balance of power on Belfast Council, has said the designated days option was in line with the recommendation from Northern Ireland’s Equality Commission as an approach which would promote good relations between both sides.
16 Comments
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.IrelandNorth | Jan 13, 2013, 03:14 PM EST
The eminent American psychiatrist Dr William Glasser, founding father of Reality Therapy (RT)/Choice Theory (CT) once described the concept of constructive criticism as "... a slug [ie snail/escargot] in a tuxedo!" A metaphor surely more applicable to democracy (sic) of the gerrymandered kind. Mind you, some of us are around the existential block long enought to know that the representative democracy game (RDG), ie the idea of political agency/delegation/deputisation was a rather glaring trade-off between real participatory democracy and oligarchy. Gerrymandering was merely a tweaking of the RDG. Yet even that couldn't last forever. As Lincoln said: "You can fool all of the people some of the time. And some of the people all of the time. But you can't fool all of the people all of the time!" With greater political awareness in contemporary populations, partitions' da[ze] are surely numbered.
curtisjohnson | Jan 13, 2013, 11:09 AM EST
HappyHippo - "Those talking democracy in NI dont get that the northern statelet was not a functioning democracy in any real sense since partition because of gerrymandering of bounderies within NI by the Unionists with the blessing of the conservatives in Britain” Yes, it was designed from the beginning as a supremacist ochlocracy where the indigenous population was excluded from all wealth and political power.
seamus60 | Jan 13, 2013, 09:31 AM EST
Well one things for sure. We aren`t seeing too much disruption or threat to the jobs in and around the biblebelt.
cillowen | Jan 12, 2013, 09:15 PM EST
Stay away from the Planted UKer sliver - where Irish natives were removed from their lands to make way for the crazies that the Greatest trafficer in human existance set up to destroy a people. This 864 creation tried every trick in the book to destroy a noble race. Sadly the Irish generally being of turning the other cheek kind don't want to confront the Saxon enemy there being so many of the Anglo order still holding dominion over southies.
Happyhippo | Jan 12, 2013, 07:57 PM EST
Those talking democracy in NI dont get that the northern statelet was not a functioning democracy in any real sense since partition because of gerrymandering of bounderies within NI by the Unionists with the blessing of the conservatives in Britain, so as to keep them in power indefinitly,they are still trying to grapple with the idea of sharing power with anybody even though all important decisions are taken in London,the flag business is not really that surprising,when the Union flag flew and they lorded it over the nationalists for nearly 80 years,if democracy is the art of compromise the loyalist underclass just dont want anything to do with it,there lies the problem for mainstream Unionists and for everybody else.
Towngate | Jan 12, 2013, 07:10 PM EST
IrelandNorth: Keep your brilliant comments coming ...
curtisjohnson | Jan 12, 2013, 06:00 PM EST
IrelandNorth – “Confident nationalists of whatever stripe don't have to drape themselves in the flags of their nationality.” I think british patriotards feel the need for vulgar displays of identity because they’re aware that this “britain” monstrosity they worship in not really a nation but an organized crime ring for commercial oligarchs.
seanomelb | Jan 12, 2013, 05:02 PM EST
The protestant working class are victims of their own twisted bigotry and their failure to move on. If they spent less time at lodge meetings and bonfire demo's and more time in the education system there plight would be ameliorated.The DUP and the PUP still fan the flames of ethnic bigotry.I wonder when the Orange dregs will drag nationalists into the quagmire of bigotry an attempt to say they're to blame. You reap what you sow.
RedBranch | Jan 12, 2013, 03:00 PM EST
Ok Intern Laird quick tip, call someone on the ground rather than trail the internet if you aspire to true journalistic integrety. I have just returned from East Belfast where the police probably outnumbered the rioters two or three to one. They have the kit and the means to keep them in a box. The Short Strand is safe and there were a number of Americans at the Titanic building, which is A1 excellent and the meal at Mourne Seafood in the city centre wasn't too shabby either. In other words life continuing as per normal for those who choose to partake in the pursuit thereof.
IrelandNorth | Jan 12, 2013, 01:59 PM EST
Confident nationalists of whatever stripe don't have to drape themselves in the flags of their nationality. Though it's not uninteresting that every time the terrortoriality of a neo provincial statlet is threatened by an outbreak of ungerrymandered democracy, that the subjectified citizenry of that particular bailiewick abreact with the unconscious besiegement of insecure planter/settlers. It used to be said that NI loyalists were not so much loyal to the British crown as to the English half-crown (a unit of predecimal currency). Solution to the problem therefore is fairly simple. Pay them to be good working class loyalists by loosening the graps of middle class unionists on that serious maundy money/block grant that the the ragged trousered philanthropist of the British Exchequer pay them to do the Full Stormonty. It could then trickle down to the Protestant working class areas like the Shankill and Sandy Row, and moderate temperament.
darao | Jan 12, 2013, 12:49 PM EST
Violence will fail to result in anything other than the destruction of the economy. Those who participate or know people who do need to know that they are freight ending away jobs and tourism. Work through thr legal or political proces instead of violence. Peace!
seamus60 | Jan 12, 2013, 12:12 PM EST
They could of course try buying their way out of it. (the gov) Fly the flad on the designated days and include big street partys in the loyalist ghettos.
Rebelforce | Jan 12, 2013, 09:43 AM EST
I wonder how many hundreds, perhaps thousands, of would be tourists to Ireland decided on a different vacation destination after seeing these scenes of rioting and lawlessness in Belfast? There can ofcourse be no turning back now on the decision to restrict the flying of the English flag at Belfast City Hall. To do so would be to reward the terrorist thugs and send the wrong message.
merefalow | Jan 12, 2013, 09:43 AM EST
BE SO EASY TO REPLY WITH IMFLAMATORY RETORIC,but what is needed here is a robust reply to this intransigent behavior,so that there is no doubt that n,Ireland will never revert to the recent so called troubles,civil war more like,it appears that there is a general concensus that the majority of people want peace and seeing that most western countries including the uk and ireland are or becoming multi cultural multi racial it doesnt make much sense to insist on one flag flying,fly the bloody lot and you wont ofend anyone.and incidently shouldnt throwing petrol bombs be treated as attempted murder.the horrendous burns from a direct hit on a person should warrant that,as long as there is fair play for everyone these scenes should belong in the past.
seamus60 | Jan 12, 2013, 08:58 AM EST
Cynicus. Fair play to you. Your justification for such a detestable IRA is however misguided. Their origional objective was to remove Britian and return Ireland back to the Irish. Although they did have to defend the Nationalist population from these heavily armed bully boys. most in uniform.
cynicus | Jan 12, 2013, 08:49 AM EST
These rioters are not loyal to the Crown, or to any democratic process. They are bully-boys who have replaced the IRA as enemies of the Queen and all things British. And they are equally as detestable as the IRA and all fascist fascist army of killers. Can one imagine the disgust that democratic, genuine, decent, law-abiding British people must feel for these embarrassing bullies!!