Sinn Fein calls for authority to remove ‘sectarian’ flags in Upper Bann - but remains silent on DUP challenge over flags and monuments in Newry, Newtownbutler and Castlederg

After the Flag Protests across Northern Ireland in 2012/13, US diplomat Richard Haas recommended that a commission be formed to address the issues.

The Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition published its final report in 2021.

However, wrangling between the parties meant that despite making some general recommendations, the report stated that many challenges remained around flags, bonfires and memorials.

It did not contain an action plan, so it was unlikely that any proposals would be implemented.

Calling for new legal powers on the matter, Lurgan Sinn Fein Councillor Catherine Nelson has now called for legal authority to address "the use of flags and emblems to entrench sectarian segregation and to harass or intimidate".

An effective resolution "will only be achieved with categoric legal authority" across departments and with police, she said.

“Such displays have been the source of community tensions in Upper Bann for many years... I want to see an inclusive, welcoming, multicultural Upper Bann that has anti-sectarianism at its core."

However the DUP challenged her party on whether it would apply such powers in republican areas also.

West Tyrone MLA Tom Buchanan said: “Sinn Fein need to spell out whether they are calling for the removal of IRA memorials, which not only glorify sectarian murder, but many of which were cited without any approval or planning permission.

"Will they support the removal of the IRA memorial in Castlederg, a town which saw 29 people murdered. Unless they’re prepared to face up to these permanent monuments to sectarian hatred then people will see Sinn Fein’s words as entirely hollow.”

Mr Buchanan said the entrance to Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry has "numerous signs and banners promoting republican terrorists" and cited an IRA memorial in Newtownbutler which he said had no planning permission.

"Will Sinn Fein call for the removal of all these too?" he asked.

Sinn Fein was invited to respond to his comments.

Kenny Donaldson, director of victims group the South East Fermanagh Foundation

"For border communities it's not simply about flags, it is also about the unchecked abilities of terrorism and its' proponents to erect ghoulish memorials wherever they choose, often on public land. And there are examples of this throughout Armagh, Tyrone, Fermanagh and Derry/Londonderry.

"These memorials revere terrorists, they laud them as heroes and martyrs when the reality is different. Yet those who support these warped ideologies feel able to regularly trash the memory of innocents - that is the work of the demonic.

"If Sinn Fein are serious about progressing shared spaces and areas which do not create a chill factor for others then they will openly advocate for the removal of these structures dotted across our landscape, otherwise their words have absolutely zero meaning.”