A FLAG glorifying loyalist killer Michael Stone has been erected outside a Catholic girls' primary school in North Belfast.
By 5pm Tuesday, DUP councillor Dale Pankhurst was reporting that the flag had been removed. Earlier, Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly had called on the PSNI to move to take the flag down.
The flag outside Holy Cross Girls Primary School on Ardoyne Road features a picture of loyalist killer Stone with his arms raised, accompanied by the caption, "Hands up if your (sic) going to be sectarian today".
A close up of the image on the flag
The loyalist gunman was behind the March 1988 attack on mourners at Milltown cemetery in March 1988, which left three dead and over 50 injured. He also confessed to a series of sectarian killings including the shooting dead of St James' community leader and milkman Paddy Brady.
He was released from Maghaberry Prison earlier this year after serving a sentence for trying to kill Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness at the November 2006 Stormont session which kicked off powersharing between the DUP and Sinn Féin.
The flag comes 20 years on from the Holy Cross Girls dispute in 2001 when loyalist protesters barracked children walking to school.
Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly said he was "appalled" at the display of the Stone flag and called for the PSNI to remove it.
“This is a deliberate attempt to provoke and intimidate local residents," he said. "This community has come through too much to be intimidated by these criminal elements and their hate crimes. There is no place in society for this type of activity. This provocative flag should be removed by the police immediately.”
A spokesperson for the Greater Ardoyne Residents' Collective (GARC) called for the flag to be removed immediately. "Holy Cross pupils, staff and parents should be free from sectarian harassment and intimidation at all times," said the spokesperson.
Oldpark DUP councillor Dale Pankhurst said the flag had been removed by late afternoon Tuesday.
“I was made aware of this flag by residents and representatives from the local community," he said. "We worked to get this flag removed and it was taken down within a short period of time. A flag like this shouldn’t have been placed anywhere near two local primary schools where children receive an education. Well done to those from the local community who worked to have it removed as it does not reflect the views of them whatsoever.”
