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Loyalist Protestors converge on Belfast city hall earlier this month. Paul Faith/PA Wire
Union flag
Alliance Party calls for legislation on flags and emblems
The party said all permanent emblems should be subject to planning consent.
THE ALLIANCE PARTY has called for the government in Northern Ireland to regulate the display of flags and to “take enforcement when required”.
In its executive strategy for “creating a shared future”, the party said a number of steps could be taken, including making all flags and emblems on the public highway subject to regulation by statutory authorities.
The party said all permanent emblems should be subject to planning consent. Flags and other celebratory material could be displayed in a regulated, time bound manner by application.
The Alliance Party said this approach would sit consistently with the idea that “all space in Northern Ireland is shared and cannot be claimed by anyone permanently or exclusively”.
Education was also addressed in the strategy with the party calling for more integration in schools. It set a minimum target for 20 per cent of children being educated in integrated schools by 2020 and said that all future new school builds should be integrated, bar in exceptional cases.
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