John Dallat MLA.
The flying of flags in Limavady commemorating and praising the barbarity of loyalist killer gangs in the past is an “affront to society,” SDLP East Derry MLA John Dallat has said.
Mr Dallat said the practice represented the failure on the part of those who had a “serious responsibility” to ensure that public spaces were “neutral and conducive to good community relations.”
Mr Dallat was speaking after a meeting with the PSNI and local SDLP representatives.
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Dallat said: “While we accept the task of creating a neutral environment is the responsibility of many involved in statutory and voluntary organisations there is, the SDLP believe, a particular responsibility on the PSNI to ensure the permanent flying of flags commemorating and extolling the barbarity of loyalist killer gangs is not an option for Limavady.
“These are, in our opinion, and indeed the opinion of senior officers in charge of mixed areas of Belfast, hate crimes and should be dealt with accordingly.
“Likewise, those who have been erecting Palestinian flags, and Irish tricolours should remove them immediately.
“The national flag of Ireland should be treated with respect and not used to cause division, mark out territory or justify the erection of other flags which are erected to cause hate, anger, and most of all disappointment the vast majority of people are not allowed to live in a neutral environment which is much more representative of the good community relations that exists in Limavady.
“The SDLP is very proud of the people of Limavady who have been very resilient in how they have dealt with the past, and we are equally impressed by how they want to face the future.
“They don’t deserve to have their main shopping district bedecked in flags of hate. It is a wrong reflection of how Limavady people think and live, and it must be addressed.
“We will continue to support the PSNI in every way possible, and we would encourage other organisations – both statutory and voluntary – to engage in bringing about the image of normality which every thriving shopping town needs to prosper.”
Mr Dallat continued: The ever increasing cost of rent and rates, wages and all the other overheads faced by businesses is not generated by promoting failures of the past rather than the successes in the future which everyone wants and not least our business people.”
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