BELFAST City Council has voted against flying the union flag on Prince Andrew’s birthday.
At Tuesday’s Council meeting, councillors backed an Alliance Party proposal to instead fly the flag on 1 July to mark the anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.
It comes as the British royal faces a civil case in US over alleged sexual assault.
At last month’s Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, an SDLP proposal not to fly the flag to mark the Prince’s birthday on 19 February was passed despite DUP opposition.
The DUP had argued that the council should wait on the result of the civil case. However, a proposal by Alliance Party Councillor Nuala McAllister to replace Prince Andrew’s birthday with an alternative designated day on 1 July was backed by the DUP on Tuesday.
Cllr McAllister told councillors that, with Prince Andrew stripped of his military titles and royal patronages, the move against marking his birthday “is the right course of action to take".
“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,” she said.
DUP councillor Brian Kingston said his party had decided to back the move having “sought assurances” that replacement days “will be a permanent arrangement”. He said his party will “make no apologies” for defending the number of designated days for flying the union flag from 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,” he stated.
“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.”
Former PUP turned independent councillor John Kyle described the Alliance Party proposal as a “wise move”.
“I think we’re following the example of the Queen who has relieved Andrew of his royal duties and his royal titles,” he said.
SDLP Councillor Donal Lyons, who first brought the proposal against marking the Prince’s birthday, said: “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.”
People Before Profit Councillor Fiona Ferguson said her party was in favour of removing the flag on Prince Andrew’s birthday, but described the linking the issue to the Somme anniversary as “a strange conflation”.
“I think at the beginning of this process we saw hesitation around taking the flag down from some parties,” she said.
“To only go along with taking down the flag on Prince Andrew’s birthday as long as there’s another day for the flag to fly is a disappointing position to take on this.”
Despite backing the removal of the flag on 19 February, she said there “is a discomfort” in using the union flag – which she described as an “imperialist symbol” – to commemorate those who died at the Somme.
