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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
National
Brendan Hughes

Belfast Union flag protester says 'we're almost a tourist attraction' as he reflects on 10th anniversary

Ten years ago today saw the start of the Union flag protests in Belfast.

On the night of December 3 2012, crowds of angered loyalists took to the streets as councillors voted to no longer fly the flag from city hall 365 days a year.

The decision to reduce displaying the flag to designated days sparked months of street protests, disruption and violence as loyalists clashed with police.

Read more: UUP man told court woman-beater made 'positive difference to community' during Covid crisis

Footage of a woman screaming "no surrender" while peering through the broken glass of doors at city hall became a defining image of the upheaval which made global headlines.

While the mass protests eventually fizzled out, a demonstration involving a handful of people continues to be held to this day at the gates of city hall each Saturday.

Billy Dickson, 75, is among the remaining diehards who continue to regularly attend the weekly protest, gathering at city hall for an hour at 1pm to drape Union flags from the gates outside.

The former deputy lord mayor, who attends the protest with his 75-year-old wife Ann, said that every week tourists and passers-by ask the group for photographs and selfies.

He said "sometimes they ask could they hold a flag", while drink-fuelled revellers pedalling on the party bikes that populate the city centre "all get off and get photographs".

"We're becoming almost like a tourist attraction," he said.

Mr Dickson recalled the "very real anger" unionists felt about the council decision a decade ago. He pointed to a controversial leaflet targeting the Alliance Party which was distributed by DUP and UUP activists for provoking a "build-up" of tensions.

He said: "I think it was from then, the very fact these leaflets were distributed and said about the flag being 'ripped down'.

"I know city council officials wouldn't rip it down but that was the terminology used on the leaflet."

Alliance representatives faced threats and intimidation after supporting a compromise of flying the flag on designated days, in line with UK government policy.

Almost 3,000 protests took place in the four months from December 2012, with 160 PSNI officers injured, 362 people charged in connection with the demonstrations and a policing bill of almost £22million.

Mr Dickson acknowledged the city hall protest has "dwindled" over the years, with an "average of around 20 people" now attending and most aged "50 to around about 75".

But with tourists snapping photos and international media still approaching them to ask about the demonstrations, he expressed hope that "in a way the message is getting across".

He said the Union flag to him remains "extremely important", adding: "I think if you can't stand up for the flag you can't stand up for anything."

"It tells the visitors and it tells everyone this is part of the United Kingdom. We fought two World Wars and it was under that flag. To take that flag down was the greatest insult."

On the future of the protest, Mr Dickson said: "I honestly can't see it ending anytime soon."

He cited the way the demonstration is not organised by one person or group and keeps its focus on the flag.

"You come as an individual. There is nobody organising it. There's only one issue - that's the flag, and if anybody else brings in other issues we will deal with that," he said.

Mr Dickson, a founder member of the DUP who later left the party, said that while some members of unionist parties have joined the protest at times, "we feel we have been let down badly by the main parties".

The former councillor lives in hope that the vote 10 years ago at city hall will be reversed.

He said that while "people would laugh at this", a new council could be elected in May which overturns the decision.

"I hope the day will come. It's not impossible."

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