Mullan's call for unity on flags issue in Limavady

East Derry SDLP MLA Gerry Mullan has appealed for support from all political parties, statutory bodies, including the PSNI 'to speak up for ordinary decent people' in Limavady 'who want to live in a neutral environment where flags and emblems glorifying a past which failed everyone are but a distant memory'.

UDA and UFF flags in Limavady town centre

In a statement he said: “It is now 18 years since the people of Ireland, North and South, voted for the Good Friday Agreement and a pathway to an end to violence of every kind. Yet we still have people erecting flags paying homage to killer gangs such as the UFF that claimed the lives of so many innocent people in Greysteel, Castlerock and other parts of East Derry.

“These flags are no part of anyone’s culture or heritage and certainly not of the members of the Protestant community who have contacted me to emphasise that these flags do not represent them and are a huge embarrassment to them. Likewise, Catholics, in sizeable numbers who also contacted me, speak with a similar voice about these flags, and all other flags that are erected for no other reason than to claim territory and deny people a neutral space to go about their business and social life.”

Mr. Mullan called on all political parties to “speak with one voice”. He said he had contacted the PSNI “to express the very strong feeling of disappointment that once again our town is bedecked with flags of hate and division”.