Loyalists in Belfast missing a trick.?

[Stoneinwelly]

Watching the news on the rioting in N.I. Aibu in thinking the loyalists could turn the whole flag raising and lowering business to their advantage?

Nobody really notices a flag up everyday iykwim but one hoisted for special occasions would get more attention. They could get the bugle out ,like Ypres,
and have a cake and pictures for really special days like Earl of Essex' B.D.

YABU

I agree Stonewelly, you get used to what is there all the time.

i assume this is a light hearted thread / joke

Police need to come down hard in extremists from both sides so the normal Irish majority, Protestants and Catholics can move on.

Just sad for the peace loving majority.

Fly both flags...

I'm in the peace loving majority but I hugely disagree with flying both flags! 1 that flag, to me and many other people, represents the south of ireland which is a different place altogether I get really fed up with people referring to me as Irish not northern Irish and 2 imagine the bloody uproar among the extreme loyalists if an Irish flag flew on Belfast city hall!

The problem with not having the flag at the city hall is the much much larger Irish tricolour that is flown all year round illegally from the top of the Divis flats about a mile away. It is the most highly visible flag in Belfast but no one ha forced its removal hence the problem.

I thought it a poor political decision to remove the flag from the council(?) building except for specific days. The Union flag is hugely symbolic to half the population and is the National flag of all the population. Any idiot could see that this decision would have an impact on the community.
As you can see from my name I am not a loyalist supporter. I dont live in the North but I hope their political leaders can sit down and reach a better compromise. It is just such an emotive issue for so many.

It is no coincidence that Sinn Fein wanted the union flag removed as they could not bear to see the unionists enjoying the centenary of the Ulster convenant this year, the unionists are no better for allowing a pack of rabble out into the streets to throw petrol bombs at their own police force. Little to no point in politicians talking imo as they could not agree the time of day at the best of times. All the current political party leaders should be sacked being not fit for purpose imo. I am dreading this weekend when a major protest and countrywide stoppage is planned.

Well, I don't see how anyone could force that tricolour to be removed, there isn't anything illegal about flying flags from the roof of your house/flat.

It's just recreational rioting now, one of the people who appeared in court was a Polish baker, I doubt he gives a toss about flegs.

OP - YANBU, that would be much more fun and considerably more dignified.

The only flag that can be legally flown anywhere in N.I is the union flag, it has been that way since the 1970s when even the N.I flag was banned from flying due to protests from Sinn Fein. I do agree that the rioting is recreational and totally pointless.

bureni I don't think flying the tricolour is illegal!

I do agree that the rioting is recreational for some. But there is much more behind it obv. I honestly don't see an end to all this shit. People were raised to fight for the 'cause' and will raise their kids the same way, and they'll raise their kids the same way. It's all quite sad

Oh i didn't know that bureni ! Every day's a school day!

Someday The tricolour IS illegal in N.I as are all flags bar the union flag, this was agreed upon in the 1970s by all political parties when direct rule came into place. You need to ask yourself why a U.K country cannot fly its national flag yet the city of Belfast is awash with the flag of another country that goes unchallenged even though it is illegal. Do you think that people in mainland Britain would tolerate the removal of the union flag but have to tolerate the flag of another country taking preference, I do not think so.

I had heard the Union flag had been flown upside down for a long time, and it went unoticed.
My mums from Belfast, (Catholic) I think they should fly the Union and the Tricolor and the EU flag cos it's pretty.
I wonder what will happen if and when Catholics were to become a majority?
I don,t think they,d vote to be parr of the free state.
Maybe a new flag for N.I?

Pathan afaik the tricolour is supposed to represent NI too. Green for Ireland, orange for the orange order and white in the middle for peace. I may be wrong though. It didn't go down too well anyway

Thepantan, Catholics are pretty much the majority now hence the council removing the flag but people always mix religion with political tags, not all unionists are protestant nor are all nationalists catholic. The Tricolour is not the flag of the country so why should it be flown?

someday, the tricolour does symbolise peace between the 2 main political parties but not countires or religion which often gets used as an excuse to wreck and ruin. You need to remember that Eire later to become ROI IN 1948 had its flag back on 1916 and that Ulster had it own flag since 1912 after the ulster covenant, Ireland or ROI as we know it now never left the commonwealth until 1948.

I need to brush up on my Irish history

It's nothing to do with the flag, really. The vote to reduce the number of days the flag flies was taken by the democratically elected council and a) was a compromise motion between the unionist politcians' preference of flying it everyday and the nationalist politicians' preference of never flying it and b) brings Belfast City Hall in line with most other civic buildings in the UK including, I believe, Westminster.

Other coucils in NI have taken the same decision over the years and no one took any notice. This was whipped into a frenzy by unionist politicians angry at losing a seat in Westminster to the Alliance party, who held the deciding vote. The hope was that if they made the unionist/loyalist community angry at Alliance, they would vote DUP or UUP at the next election. Presumably they now realise their strategy has failed given the level of disruption.

For what it's worth, the car I was in was attacked while I was on a driving lesson - a man jumped on the bonnet smashing the windscreen with a brick, bricks through the side windows etc. Not a flag in sight at that particular protest. For many, it's just an excuse to riot.

Well its not the flag of the province for sure, but the flag of the Island of Ireland, and I suppose for a fair few living in the North, it represents them.
I don,t see a problem flying both flags, surely parity of esteem is the way to go?

someday, its mad and hard to follow. I work all over Ireland and somedays travel 500-600 miles and I have yet to meet a nasty person bar the gits that put a rock through the back window of my car in Belfast last week. It is a mad situation when you consider that the Irish fought with the British through 2 world wars, perhaps we need another war or another tribe to fight with then we can all be Irish for a little while instead of beating the life out of each other.

Thepanthan, THE tricolur is the flag of ROI only , N.I has its own flag and always has but it is illegal to fly since it contains the royal crown of David which nationalist wrongly assumed was the royal crown hence it was removed to keep the peace.

I havn,t read it, but supposed to be a good peice in papers today about the alienation of working class protestant youth in N.I.

I know all my Belfast cousins (late 20,s through to 50) all studied at Uni, I think my Uncles/Aunts drummed it into them that they might not find employment as easy to find unless they were to emigrate.Only 2 did, the rest stayed and have professional careers.

N.I Flag
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Northern_Ireland

Yes bureni, I,ve met the most lovely generous people in Belfast, from every community.
It really is shameful, the behaviour.