AN independent councillor found to have breached a local government code of conduct by displaying a tricolour and a Palestinian flag at council offices in Co Derry has branded the ruling "an irrelevance".
Padraig McShane, a member of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, was pictured with the flags at the council chamber in Coleraine in June 2015.
Along with Derry independent councillors Gary Donnelly and Darren O'Reilly, he was photographed sitting behind the flags with Gaza official Mohamed Al-Halabi.
DUP councillor Trevor Clarke made a complaint after the photograph emerged.
A straw-filled effigy of Mr McShane, based on the photograph, was later placed on a loyalist bonfire in Bushmills with a red target on its head.
Tuesda's hearing, on behalf of the local government commissioner for standards, found that the former Sinn Fein representative had breached several points of the councillors' code of conduct, including using the chamber for "improper" political purposes and refusing to take part in the investigation.
Councillors found to have breached the code can be disqualified for up to five years. Mr McShane is only the second councillor to face a hearing since a code of conduct was introduced in May 2014.
Ian Gordon, Acting Commissioner for Local Government Standards, said Mr McShane had not sought permission to display the flags.
"If he had declared his intended purpose, it would have been refused as evidenced by the statements of the mayor and council officials," he said.
"Against the background of a divisive and emotive issue, concerning the display of flags, the council operated on the basis of an interim flags policy where only the Union flag was flown outside the council building."
Mr Gordon said Mr McShane's "misuse of the council chamber and his subsequent publication of the photograph was an attempt to use his position as a councillor to secure an advantage for himself or others".
"The surreptitious manner in which he did so was improper and he knew or ought to have known it would attract publicity and controversy in equal measure," he said.
"The use of the chamber was clearly for political purposes and in the absence of permission to display flags and given the manner in which the council chamber was used, this was an improper use."
Mr McShane, who will be sanctioned at a later date, last night dismissed the hearing.
"This is an absolute irrelevance as are any sanctions," he said.
"There are protections under European law and the Good Friday Agreement that will override any ruling."
He added: "I was elected as an Irish republican. If someone doesn't like the Irish tricolour that's a matter for them to address."
