£800,000 Stormont flags ‘still on shelf’ after three years

An £800,000 Stormont report aimed at resolving disputes over flags and bonfires has not been implemented for almost three years since it was published.

Report of the Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition (FICT) released in December 2021.

The working group created to consider his proposals has not met for more than two years.

The executive office said the FICT report will be considered as part of a review of its public relations strategy.

Professor Dominic Bryan, co-chair of the commission, said he was “disappointed that things are not moving faster”.

“There are some areas where we had agreement between all political parties, for example on bonfires, where progress could actually be made,” he said.

The Queen’s University Belfast academic said he hoped the report would not remain “on the shelf”.

“We’ve put a lot of resources into this, people have put a lot of time and effort into this,” he said.

“Having got cross-party agreement on things, I really think it’s worth sticking with and moving forward.”

Stormont’s executive office created FICT in 2016 to resolve disagreements over a range of identity and cultural issues, such as flags and bonfires.

When the report was published, the Executive Office said the working group, which includes junior ministers, advisers and officials, would “continue to meet” to review it.

The working group met once in January 2022 before Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government collapsed later that year.

It has not been reconvened since the Northern Ireland Executive was reinstated in February after a two-year hiatus.

Alliance Party assembly member Paula Bradshaw, chair of the executive watchdog committee, expressed concern at the lack of progress.

She introduced a private bill aimed at implementing some of FICT’s flag proposals.

“While absolute consensus was not reached on every issue during the FICT process, there was absolute consensus that the status quo was unacceptable,” she added.

The commission was created by Agreement for a new start.

Its 15-member commission, which included political and non-political appointees, consulted with many stakeholders and community groups.

The report was due in December 2017, 18 months after its creation.

But his work was affected by the collapse of devolution in January 2017.

The results of the study were finally presented to Stormont’s chief executive in July 2020, but were not published until December 2021.

The documents run to 168 pages and contain 17 chapters covering various areas including identity, flags, bonfires, murals, and memorials in public places.

As for flags, the commission said it had not reached agreement on whether changes should be made to legislation regarding the placement of flags on lamp posts and other street furniture.

But it says there is “widespread agreement” on elements of a possible “code of practice”, such as keeping flags away from interfaces.

Regarding bonfires, the commission recommended burning only wood and limiting the collection of materials to six weeks before lighting the bonfire.

In the absence of consensus at Stormont, flag regulation appears to be taking place elsewhere.

Property lawyer Philip Armstrong said the use of flags on new housing developments was prohibited under so-called “restrictive covenants”.

These legal provisions contained in property documents can cover a wide range of areas.

But Mr Armstrong said they were now “commonly” used in relation to flags.

“I would say that in most new developments we are seeing restrictive covenants that prohibit the display or display of flags, banners or emblems,” he said.

“I think this is a sign that developers especially understand that for the future attractiveness of the development and properties for sale, the absence of these political emblems can be a real advantage.”

The Stormont Executive Office is a joint department of First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly.

In a statement, a spokeswoman said: “The recommendations of the FICT report are being considered as part of the ongoing review of the T:BUC (Together: Building One Community) strategy.

“This will ensure cross-cutting and wide-ranging impact of the issues covered by FICT and encourage broader thinking about good relationships.”