Apprentice Boys flags row sees Londonderry Council slated by equality bosses
A row over stalls selling “offensive” flags at Apprentice Boys parades has seen Londonderry Council raked over the coals by equality chiefs.
Two years ago, the council rewrote its criteria allowing people to sell merchandise and souvenirs at August’s annual Relief of Derry parade.
Then move came after a stall was found selling parachute regiment and UVF flags, with nationalist councillors subsequently bringing through a change banning street traders at the Apprentice Boys event from offering emblems that “could reasonably offend”.
The move was opposed by unionists, who pointed out that the police said nothing illegal had happened while arguing the council would be walking into to a minefield by trying to define offensiveness in policy terms.
Plenty of merchandise sold at city Fleadh events could offend a unionist, argued the DUP, while the UUP said: “It’s one community being offended over another community; you either name specific items [to be banned] or we have to find another route to deal with it.”
The move went ahead anyway – but it wasn’t run through proper equality tests, something that has now seen the council criticised by the Equality Commission.
According to a report issued by the commission today, the council argued it didn’t have to screen the changes as they were “clarification of the associated criteria” on street trading, not a full change of policy.
The Equality Commission disagrees. It found that because proper evaluations weren’t carried out, councillors couldn’t be sure they were “in a position to fully assess the potential impacts on equality of opportunity and good relations” when voting on the changes.
The commission also found failures in the council’s training scheme making sure its staff and councillors are all fully abreast of equality duties and responsibilities.
The report doesn’t consider the actual street trading policy itself, but only analysed the council’s performance on associated equality requirements.
The clear message for all councils in Northern Ireland from the investigation, said chief commissioner Geraldine McGahey, is that they must ensure that their staff and elected members are fully aware of their legal duties and the commitments in their equality schemes.
She added: “This report makes clear recommendations for Derry City and Strabane District Council that all decision-makers, including elected members, must be provided with information that clearly identifies the potential equality impacts of the policies and decisions they are considering.
“They must also provide regular training on core aspects of [legal] duties and that it should be mandatory for all decision-makers, including elected members. The council’s training plan in respect to these duties should be regularly reviewed.
“The commission recognises that the council had begun work to address the issues raised in this complaint including reviewing the circumstances of the complaint, apologising for any offence caused and bringing a report before the relevant council committee.
“We believe that the recommendations in this report will help bolster the council’s adherence to its equality scheme commitments. We have asked for an update on progress on implementing the recommendations within six months.”