Northern Ireland

Tricolour outside Protestant church condemned

The tricolour was erected on a lamppost outside Greencastle Methodist Church on the Whitewell Road in north Belfast, just yards from Hazelwood Integrated College. Picture from Twitter
The tricolour was erected on a lamppost outside Greencastle Methodist Church on the Whitewell Road in north Belfast, just yards from Hazelwood Integrated College. Picture from Twitter The tricolour was erected on a lamppost outside Greencastle Methodist Church on the Whitewell Road in north Belfast, just yards from Hazelwood Integrated College. Picture from Twitter

A COUNCILLOR has called on those who erected a tricolour outside a Protestant church in north Belfast to remove the flag and "show a bit more respect".

The tricolour was flown on a lamppost outside Greencastle Methodist Church on Whitewell Road, just yards from Hazelwood Integrated College.

It is unclear when it was put up but images were shared on social media as republicans marked the anniversary of the Easter Rising.

Whitewell Road was the scene of serious sectarian rioting at the turn of the millennium.

Ulster Unionist councillor David Browne told The Irish News: "I think they could show a bit more respect outside a church. I would ask that the people who put it there come and take it down as a mark of respect."

In October 2015 police said they would not be intervening to remove tricolours which were erected at a new social housing estate at nearby Mill Road, which were condemned by Sinn Féin national chairman Declan Kearney as representing "sectarian intimidation".