LOYALISTS have been accused of a "breach of trust" after paramilitary flags were erected on a south Belfast memorial despite agreement on a new flags protocol.
In May, it was announced that a flags protocol had been agreed for the mixed Ballynafeigh area including Ormeau Road that aimed to prevent the flying of paramilitary flags.
But on Tuesday loyalist paramilitary flags were spotted on a war memorial off the Ormeau Road, on Candahar Street near Annadale Flats.
The DUP – whose South Belfast MLA Christopher Stalford announced the protocol – has remained silent on whether the flags amounted to a breach of the arrangement.
Green Party MLA Clare Bailey – who had backed the protocol and whose party was involved in talks to devise it – said yesterday she would be looking into the matter.
"The Green Party advocates non-violence and we oppose the influence of paramilitaries in communities. I've become aware of this issue recently and I'll look into the matter accordingly," she said in a statement.
Under the protocol, no paramilitary-linked flags are to be flown and only the union flag and Ulster banner are displayed.
It also seeks to restrict the flying of flags to the period from mid-June to early September, and only one per lamppost.
At the time Mr Stalford said those behind the arrangement were "trying to improve community relations".
Alliance councillor Emmet McDonough-Brown, who had been critical of the protocol when it was first announced, yesterday hit out at the paramilitary display.
"The Bailey/Stalford flags protocol has clearly broken down and now doesn't appear to command the support of those who welcomed it," he said.
"It's a clear breach of trust by loyalists who stated they would not erect paramilitary flags in Ormeau."
The flags were placed on a controversial memorial at the centre of a scrapped annual parade honouring UDA men Joe Bratty and Raymond Elder.
Bratty and Elder were shot dead by the Provisional IRA on Ormeau Road on July 31 1994.
They were linked to a gun attack on Sean Graham bookmakers along the same street in 1992 in which five Catholics were killed.
For the past four years a march has been held in the Ormeau Road area honouring Bratty and Elder, but no march has emerged this year.
The Parades Commission said it has not been notified of any similar parade being organised.
The march was first held in 2014 following the construction of the controversial £11,000 memorial garden at Annadale Flats funded by the Housing Executive (NIHE).
A temporary plaque bearing Bratty and Elder's names was affixed to the memorial each year as part of the event, and paramilitary flags were flown from lampposts.
NIHE said the structure on Candahar Street was intended as a First World War monument.
Mr McDonough-Brown added: "NIHE must act in defence of the wider community, and those who died in the First World War, by removing flags associated with Elder and Bratty."
NIHE was asked if it would be removing the flags or the memorial itself. A spokesman said: "We will not be intervening at this stage."
Read more:Who were Joe Bratty and Raymond Elder?
