Belfast City Council has unanimously voted against flying the Union Flag on Prince Andrew’s birthday - with full unionist support after a DUP change of mind.
At Tuesday evening’s meeting of the full council, the DUP made a u-turn from their opposition to an SDLP motion to not fly the flag on the Duke of York’s birthday, amid allegations of his sexual abuse of a teenager.
The DUP had previously stated at committee level it would await the outcome of the trial before making a decision on the flying of the flag. At Tuesday's meeting the party reversed its position after an Alliance amendment proposed to fly the flag instead on July 1st every year to commemorate the Battle of the Somme. This would maintain the number of designated days for flying the flag.
Alliance Councillor Nuala McAllister told the chamber the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in Whitehall indicated it was up to local authorities whether they wished to fly the flag. She said it was “disappointing they gave away responsibility.”
She added: “We don’t believe it should fly on the birthday of Prince Andrew, and given that he has been stripped of his military titles and his other royal patronages, we do believe this is the right course of action to take.
“I have heard from other members of this council, and members of the public, about waiting to see what happens. I am very concerned if we wait and see what happens, whether it’s a criminal case or a civil case.
“When there are concerns about a relationship, coming from such a high profile position, we have a moral responsibility to victims to say that regardless of your position in life, you will be protected if you come forward.”
American Virginia Giuffre, now 38, has alleged that at age 17 she was sexually abused by the Prince, and coerced into having underage sex with him, by his associates Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Andrew strongly denies her allegations.
DUP Alderman Brian Kingston seconded the Alliance amendment at the council meeting. He said: “Since this was raised verbally at committee, the DUP has sought assurances from other parties that a replacement day will be a permanent arrangement.
“We make no apologies for defending the number of designated flag days set by DCMS, and we will oppose any attempt to reduce those days by parties that don’t want the Union Flag to be flown at all on City Hall.
“As I said in committee we do share in the widespread concerns about alleged serious misconduct by Prince Andrew, and indeed the intensity of those allegations has only increased since they first emerged in 2019.
“So rather than rehearse the arguments that have been aired in the media about the lack of advance notice or conversation about this proposal before committee, I have seconded the proposal, that the alternative flag day should henceforth be July 1, the anniversary of the commencement of the Battle of the Somme.”
SDLP Councillor Donal Lyons, who forwarded the original motion, stated: “I think this is a good outcome. When I made this proposal I was very clear this wasn’t about the number of designated days. It wasn’t necessarily about the flag, and it certainly wasn’t about issues of national identity, whether they were British or Irish.
“This is about the allegations that are facing Prince Andrew, the severity of them, and the message we send to women and girls in our city. If we had proceeded to honour a man in this context, I think that would have been an incredibly retrograde step.”
In December 2012, Belfast City Council voted to limit the days that the Union Flag flies from Belfast City Hall to 18 specific days a year, the minimum requirement for UK government buildings. Previously, since 1906, the flag had been flown every day of the year.
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