Opinion

Flags designed to intimidate must be removed

Once again, a mixed housing development in south Belfast has become the focus of those determined to create tension and division in our society.

The appearance of UVF flags at Cantrell Close off the Ravenhill Road in recent days is a clear attempt to intimidate those living in this shared estate and a direct challenge to political representatives as well as the housing authorities and the PSNI.

This is the third year in a row that this development has been caught up in unwanted controversy.

In 2017, there was widespread outrage after several Catholic families - including a pregnant woman with a young child - were forced to leave their homes following threats which, according to chief constable George Hamilton, emanated from the east Belfast UVF.

A short time before Mr Hamilton named the UVF, flags from the organisation were removed from Cantrell Close, a move described by the East Belfast Community Initiative as a 'gesture of goodwill'.

The following year, banners depicting a number of IRA atrocities appeared in the shared space, a move regarded as a stunt designed to undermine the aims of a mixed housing scheme.

The only conclusion that can be drawn from the latest display of flags is that some elements within loyalism are profoundly unhappy at the prospect of people from different religious backgrounds living side by side.

Unfortunately, it is not just Cantrell Close where we find evidence of people and organisations using flags and banners to intimidate, mark out territory and send a hostile message.

The fact that many of these displays are in mixed areas, including outside a Catholic school in east Belfast, will be seen as sinister and worrying.

There had been hopes that the Commission of Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition, set up by the Executive Office in 2016, would have reported by now and set out recommendations aimed at tackling the issues that cause so much contention in our society.

However, this has not happened and it is not clear when a report will be forthcoming. Recent comments by Professor Dominic Bryans, co-chair of the commission, do not offer particular grounds for optimism, which is disappointing.

We need to work towards phasing out the paramilitary symbols, both loyalist and republican, which are used to bully and intimidate.