Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick
Main Page: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick's debates with the Northern Ireland Office
(11 years, 8 months ago)
Commons ChamberI welcome that firm statement, which I am sure that everyone will endorse. Such decisions need to be taken on the basis of democracy and consent, and indeed decisions on matters as sensitive as flags need to be taken after calm reflection. It is important that a real effort is made to take into account the concerns of people right across the community. There is a way forward. Northern Ireland has demonstrated that it can resolve seemingly intractable problems that have divided people for 800 years, so I am sure that they can find a sensible way forward on flags as well.
I thank the Secretary of State for her statement. In condemning the levels of unrest on the streets of Belfast and the assault on democracy and on our hon. Friend the Member for Belfast East (Naomi Long) and others across Northern Ireland over the past few days, does she agree that parties that agreed to designated days for flying the Union flag at Stormont should not have exaggerated the significance of having the same policy at Belfast city hall and that the consequences of such agitation, including the distribution of inappropriate literature door to door in east Belfast, have contributed considerably to the unrest on the streets?
As I have said, the important approach is to recognise that those decisions are very sensitive and that different people in Northern Ireland view flags in completely different ways. I think that the guiding principle should always be that those decisions should be taken with care and thought after dialogue and with a mind on the impact on community relations and an understanding of their impact on people who have different views right across the community.