Dublin City Council has said it is considering how to respond to the erection of tricolours on lampposts in communities across the city, which are believed to be part of a campaign by anti-immigration groups.
Its follows requests by a number of councillors and residents groups for the local authority to take action in response to the practice, which they said is an attempt to intimidate and mark territory.
Over the summer, lines of tricolours have appeared on streets in a number of areas across the capital, including Ballyfermot, Coolock, Finglas and the north and south inner city.
A number of well known anti-immigration campaigners have posted online in support of the erection of tricolours, similar to the ‘Operation Raise the Colours’ campaign currently taking place across the UK.
It is understood council officials have been struggling to find a solution to the issue because there are no explicit rules in relation to flying the national flag in the Dublin City area and the practice is one that often occurs during major sporting events such as the Olympics or the World Cup.
There is also understood to be a reluctance among both council workers and contractors to remove national flags from the areas they have been erected in.
DCC ‘considering appropriate response’
In a statement to RTÉ News, Dublin City Council said it is “considering an appropriate response and is engaging with relevant stakeholders” about the issue.
It said it has received “some correspondence” about the practice and it clarified that the erection of flags on public lampposts is not permitted without the written permission of Dublin City Council’s Public Lighting Services.
Ahead of Dublin City Council’s monthly meeting this evening, a number of public representatives have raised the issue with council officials.
‘Weaponisation of the tricolour’ – Labour councillor
In a written question to the Council’s Chief Executive, Labour Councillor for Dublin South Central Darragh Moriarty asked what action the council is going to take against what he described as the “weaponisation of the tricolour by far-right and malicious agitators who seek to use our flag as a means to intimidate”.
He asked the council chief to outline what the policy is with regard to the erection of flags and bunting by “known anti-immigrant actors across city street lights and Dublin City Council social housing complexes”.
Cllr Moriarty said “this attempted capture of our flag for hateful intent must be faced head on by the country’s largest local authority”.
Fine Gael Councillor for the Artane-Whitehall area Declan Flanagan also submitted a written question asking if the Chief Executive can instruct staff to remove the flag from an area in his constituency where he said he believes it’s being used “outside of the official means to mark territory and homogenise spaces”.
Resident in north inner city write to council
Residents of the North Strand in Dublin’s north inner city have also written to the councillors asking for the removal of flags that have appeared in the area in recent weeks.
In a letter seen by RTÉ News, the residents said: “We object to the unauthorised erection of these decorations. They dishonour the Flag by flouting official protocol, are in breach of Dublin City Council’s rules of the decoration of lighting poles, and are an attempt by a minority to make a political statement outside of the normal democratic process.
“We ask that you direct the Chief Executive of the council to remove these decorations as soon as is practicable. We strongly oppose the attempted usurpation of our National Flag by a group which is not representative of the people of this area.”
In a video posted on Instagram last week Cllr Malachy Steenson who represents the north inner city posted a video of the flags along the North Strand and commented: “Amazing work from our team getting our flag up all the way down the North Strand and Sheriff Street. We have taken our flag back from those who are intent on destroying our country and we are proud to fly it.”
RTÉ News attempted to contact Cllr Steenson for his reaction to calls for the removal of these flags but have not yet received a reply.
Councillor Gavin Pepper who represents the Finglas-Ballymun area said while he was not involved in the erection of flags in his area, he fully supports the flying of tricolours in the city and does not believe they should be removed.
“I think they should be all over the city and I don’t think they should be took down at all. I think people should be very proud of where they’re from,” he said.
“I’m proud of my country and there’s no need for anybody to be asking for our national flag to be took down. It should be in every street, on every lamppost, up high and that’s the way it should be. Irish flags everywhere.”
