FICT authors: Our flag and identity report was the start of a process, not the end of one

But we feel they missed the extent to which there was consensus reached in the commission.

Anyone who believes, given the deep divisions in our society, that there would be some magic wand that can wave away these fissures is naïve.

The truth is we live in a divided society that is still emerging from conflict. Expressions of our national and ethnic identity can be clear markers of one’s allegiance, whether to the United Kingdom, Ireland, or Northern Ireland.

Many of our fellow citizens live with the legacy of 30 years of violence that has scarred them either physically and psychologically or both. Some people believe that a new cultural conflict has replaced the physical conflict that our society endured for three decades. Whole communities feel their cultural identity is either under attack or not recognised.

Issues around the flying of flags, bonfires, murals, language, memorials and commemoration divide whole communities.

It was perhaps inevitable that any discussion of how people should or should not celebrate their cultural identity in Northern Ireland was going to be a difficult one. Some people believe that even having such a discussion will threaten their ability to express their cultural identity in public spaces.

FICT was unusual in that it contained eight independents alongside the representatives from the five main political parties: the DUP, Sinn Fein, the UUP, the SDLP and Alliance. From the off this meant a variety of viewpoints.

The internal talks in the commission were, as one would expect, tough, prolonged and, at times given the external political environment, pessimistic.

The collapse of the assembly and executive in January 2017, the failed political talks process in 2018, four (Assembly, UK and European) elections and the ongoing challenging environment created by Brexit, was not conducive to generating political consensus and agreement at the commission.

Despite this FICT, including the five political parties collectively recognised and confirmed that all sections of our community have cultural rights.

Furthermore, that they also acknowledged that those rights are enshrined in national and international law, and that these British, Irish, and other identifications of culture and heritage, should command equal respect in our society.

All members of FICT reached an agreement that included equal respect for the promotion, support and resourcing of both Irish and Ulster Scots/British language, culture and heritage within all aspects of civic and social life.

The cornerstone of our approach was that these cultural expressions would underpin a community’s right to do so. In turn, it would also require that the ways in which cultural identities are expressed would also respect other people’s identities, sensitivities and safety.

The commission agreed that the flying of flags to mark significant cultural or historic events is a legitimate form of cultural expression.

Noting that under present legislation people do not have authority to put flags on lampposts, we suggested some options for changes in legislation to enable this to occur along with a code of conduct.

Our essential point is that by giving everyone — including the people who want to fly flags, the people who are not happy with flags being flown without regulation, and the bodies who own the property upon which they are flown — clarity about what is and is not acceptable, a framework could be created that gives everyone fair opportunities to express their identity in ways that everyone could live with.

And on bonfires, all five parties agreed that they should be regarded as a legitimate form of cultural expression and recommended practical steps, including changes to legislation and a code of practice, to improve safety, limit environmental damage, and provide everyone with clarity about what is, and isn’t acceptable.

It was not surprising that some of the commission’s most intense and difficult discussions were about memorials and commemoration.

We agreed, however, that the executive should acknowledge that everyone has a right to remember their dead in a way that is respectful, sensitive, dignified and seeks to avoid causing pain or hurt to others.

We also dealt with the fact that our children do not learn about the ‘Others’’ cultural identity either: we all agreed that a healthy society requires this and laid out how the schools curriculum might deliver this.

If we want a society, built on mutual respect and interdependence, of one another’s cultural identity, then we have to recognise that this will have be done in a manner appropriate to our society, which is still one emerging from conflict, for the common good of all.

This does not mean surrendering any part of anyone’s cultural identity; but it does mean being able to celebrate one’s cultural identity in confidence while recognising that others have a valid cultural identity too.

These issues will not go away and will return again and again. Our report is not the end of a process but the start of one.

• Professor Dominic Bryan is Joint chair of FICT commissioner and Prof Thomas Hennessey and independent commissioner

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