News

Loyalists paint road markings red, white and blue

Painting kerbstones to mark an area out as unionist doesn't suffice anymore, loyalist have now painted the white road markings red, white and blue in one Belfast interface. Security Correspondent Allison Morris reports

Road signs painted red, white and blue
Road signs painted red, white and blue Road signs painted red, white and blue

Hardline loyalists in Tigers Bay in north Belfast have painted safety road markings red, white and blue as the UDA faction continues to swamp the interface area in flags ahead of the Twelfth.

Kerbstones close to the flashpoint with North Queen Street have also been given a fresh coast of paint.

In Parkmount Street the road markings, including the junction and white lines in the centre of the road, were painted white and blue over the weekend.

Other street furniture, including stop sign poles, have also been painted in the colours of the Union Flag.

A flags protocol in the area was abandoned after a change in leadership following infighting between UDA factions.

A more hardline leadership, lead by a number of prominent flag protesters and criminals previously expelled from the UDA , has resulted in a breakdown in cross community relations and flags being erected at the interface close to the nationalist New Lodge.

Murals that had been reimaged as part of a community scheme were also removed by the new UDA faction and replaced with union flags.

Residents in Glengormley have also complained that the area has been saturated with flags in recent weeks.

One resident said he contacted police who told him there was nothing they could do about flags along the Antrim line and on the mainly nationalist Hightown Road.

Assistant Chief Constable Stephen Martin said, "The display of flags to promote or support a proscribed organisation or which can cause intimidation is wholly unacceptable in a peaceful and tolerant society. The Police Service is clear in its responsibility to work with other statutory agencies and local communities to address the issues surrounding the flying of flags in public areas and find acceptable solutions.

"Until the 'Joint Protocol in Relation to the Display of Flags in Public Areas' is updated, the PSNI will continue to work with local communities and respond to any issue where there is a concern for public safety or where it is believed a criminal offence has occurred.

“However, the removal of flags is not the responsibility of the PSNI and police can only act to remove flags where there are substantial risks to public safety.”

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin policing board member Pat Sheehan said he is to raise the matter of the arrest of a north Belfast man for "interfering with a lamppost" while putting up suicide awareness poster saying police need to explain the "inconsistencies" in their actions..

Republican Network for Unity member Henry McEarlean (61) was arrested on Sunday in Ardoyne while placing posters for Lifeline in an area where there has been a spate of suicides in recent months.

Police said he was arrested after being sighted "interfering with a lampost using tools and a ladder."

Mr Sheehan said; "If there is a criminal offence of interfering with a lamppost then the erection of flags must also come under it.

"It is unacceptable that a man was arrested for erecting suicide awareness posters while loyalists used cherry pickers to erect flags on lampposts at Twaddell a couple of hundred yards from the PSNI as they sat watching.

"I intend to raise the issue at the Policing Board and get an explanation what is the difference between erecting a poster and erecting a flag on a lamppost.

"If the public are to gain confidence in a non partisan policing service then it must be seen in applying the law in an even handed manner", he said.

A spokesman for Transport NI, which has responsibility for roads, said it was irresponsible to place markings on road markings.