The tricolour on a lamppost on the Greenhills Road
Local authorities will not engage with the removal of Irish flags
Local authorities in Dublin have chosen not to engage in the removal of Irish flags after recent months have seen a rise of erected national flags, as well as far-right connections to these instances.
There has been a rise in the number of Irish flags erected in recent months, with far-right groups and members of local communities posting some of these installations on social media.
The erection of tricolours has been particularly evident in areas across Dublin such as Clondalkin, Ballyfermot, Drimnagh, Tallaght, Crumlin and the Greenhills Road.
Dublin City Council and South Dublin County Council have both stated that they will not remove Irish flags put up in recent months.
Councillor Emma Murphy had asked the local authority in South Dublin to remove flags erected at the entrance to Whitechurch Estate in Rathfarnham.
Cllr Murphy made the case for removal: “The reason for me asking for them to be removed is that it should be a unifying symbol, not a marking of territory.
“And that’s what it’s been used for, whether we like to say it is or is not.”
The recent trend of putting Irish flags on flagpoles mirrors the Raise the Colours movement in the United Kingdom that encourages people to raise the Union Jack or St George’s Cross in the name of “unity and patriotism.”
Councillor Yvonne Collins labelled the use of the national flag in recent months as “disgusting” and a way “to try and marginalise people.”
Cllr Collins noted that the flag was initially created as a way to symbolise peace between different communities and that the recent trend of raising the national flag is “intimidating” as it changes the meaning.
Mayor of South Dublin County Council, Councillor Pamela Kearns does not see the point in taking down flags as she feels they will be back up the very next day.
The Mayor noted that there were reports in the early days of the phenomenon that council workers were intimidated as they attempted to take down the flags.
Mayor Cllr Kearns said: “My own instinct is that we reclaim it as our own as positively as we can at any event that we can.
“I wouldn’t be inclined to try and take them down because I think they’re only going to go up the next morning and you’re going to provoke more air for them, more oxygen time for them which I don’t think these people deserve.”
SDCC said that they did not want to engage in tension-creating flag removals and will rather promote the Irish flag as a unifying symbol.
The local authority stated on the matter: “Our general policy is that any material being erected should have prior approval and that any flags posing an obstruction or a hazard to public safety will be removed.
“However, following a broad review of the locations where flags are currently erected and various other considerations including input from other Dublin local authorities and An Garda Siochána, there are no significant related health and safety concerns arising at present.”
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
