Justice minister warns against using Irish flag to intimidate migrants or mark territory
Tricolour flags flying from lampposts in an estate in Quarryvale, Clondalkin Dublin. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins, Dublin.
Irish tricolour flags should not be used to mark territory or signal that people from a migrant background are not welcome, the justice minister has said.
Jim O’Callaghan expressed concern about the use of the Irish tricolour for “completely inappropriate reasons.”
Speaking on , Mr O'Callaghan said: “What I wouldn’t like to see happening in Ireland is what I sometimes see in the north, where you go into a territory, an area, and you see Union Jacks or Ulster flags or other areas you see tricolours.
“I suppose the purpose of them there is they’re marking territory.
“I’m concerned about what is clearly lying beneath it, which is a desire to use the flag for completely inappropriate reasons, to suggest that this is exclusively an areas that belongs to indigenous Irish people.
“That’s not what the Irish flag was ever about.”
It comes as Dublin City Council said they want to meet with gardaí over the erection of tricolours in public spaces across the city, following concerns that have been raised.
The tricolour has widely been flown as an expression of national pride; however, some groups have criticized its use, saying it is being used to intimidate people of a migrant background.
Mr O’Callaghan said marking territory with tricolours may be occurring in some areas, but he cautioned against demands to remove the flag.
“I would be concerned about activity going on now with people demanding that they take down tricolours in certain areas,” Mr O’Callaghan said.
“It needs to be dealt with sensitively, I think everyone agrees with that.”
Questioned about whether individuals marking territory with tricolours would listen to his appeal, Mr O’Callaghan said they need to “understand what the Irish flag means.”
He said the flag represents reconciliation between the two traditions of nationalism and unionism on the island.
“Within communities, we have to say it is not appropriate to try and mark out certain territory in a way which is exclusive,” Mr O’Callaghan said.
His comments come after Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the Irishness of citizens should not be questioned because of their background.
"I heard some people recently sort of defending what's going on now and somehow if you have a problem with the national flag on the flagpole, then 'you should maybe leave the country, there's something wrong with you, you're not Irish' or something like that,” Mr Martin said.
“That's not right. That kind of comment is out of order and we shouldn't be trying... to question people's citizenship or their Irishness because of their origins, perhaps, or the colour of their skin.”
The Taoiseach said there is a need to “stand up” to that rhetoric.
"Watching what's happening in the UK, I don't like it," he said. "We, so far, have resisted a lot of what has transpired in other societies.”
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