Ards and North Down Council has voted to increase the flying of the Union Flag in public spaces in the borough.
At the monthly meeting of the full council, unionist representatives backed a TUV amendment to flag policy and agreed to fly the flag permanently at all 13 war memorials in the borough, and at the council buildings at Church Street, Newtownards.
The vote was held behind closed doors, away from the public. The Alliance Party, and the borough’s sole nationalist representative, SDLP Councillor Joe Boyle, voted against the TUV proposal.