Sinn Féin table debate on emblems in Stormont

Sinn Féin has tabled a motion in the Assembly today calling for debate on the use of symbols and emblems in Stormont.

Tabled by Sinn Féin Newry Armagh assembly member Conor Murphy, the motion calls for the Assembly Commission to report by October 2002 on how symbols and emblems in Stormont will be used in a manner which promotes mutual respect rather than division within the new institutions as outlined in the Good Friday Agreement.

Speaking before the debate Mr Murphy said: “Under paragraph 5 of the section in the Agreement on rights, Safeguards and Equality of Opportunity it states that symbols and emblems should be used in a way that promotes mutual respect rather than division within the new institutions.

“Yet four years after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement there has been no movement on the creation of a neutral working environment. Parliament Buildings and the Stormont estate as a whole is still dominated by Unionist and British symbols. My motion is not about stripping the building of Unionists symbols but is about making the Assembly a welcoming place for all sections of the community.”

However the use of symbols and emblems is generally a thorny issue in Northern Ireland politics and the motion is sure to provoke a heated debate in the chamber today.

Last year nationalists managed to ensure lilies were on display at Easter in Stormont.

This year a Democratic Unionist motion tabled by Jim Wells to place shamrocks in Stormont on St Patrick’s Day instead of lilies at Easter was passed by a majority.

(AMcE)