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The Flag Dispute: Anatomy of a Protest

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The Flag Dispute: Anatomy of a Protest The Flag Dispute: Anatomy of a Protest Nolan, P., Bryan, D., Dwyer, C., Hayward, K., Radford, K., & Shirlow, P. (2014). The Flag Dispute: Anatomy of a Protest. Queen's University Belfast. http://www.qub.ac.uk/research- centres/isctsj/filestore/Filetoupload,481119,en.pdf Document Version: Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Queen's University Belfast - Research Portal: Link to publication record in Queen's University Belfast Research Portal Publisher rights © 2014 Queen's University Belfast General rights Copyright for the publications made accessible via the Queen's University Belfast Research Portal is retained by the author(s) and / or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing these publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Take down policy The Research Portal is Queen's institutional repository that provides access to Queen's research output. Every effort has been made to ensure that content in the Research Portal does not infringe any person's rights, or applicable UK laws. If you discover content in the Research Portal that you believe breaches copyright or violates any law, please contact [email protected]. Download date:07. Oct. 2021 The Flag Dispute: Anatomy of a Protest Full Report Paul Nolan Dominic Bryan Clare Dwyer Katy Hayward Katy Radford & Peter Shirlow December 2014 Supported by the Community Relations Council & the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Ireland) Published by Queen’s University Belfast 3 ISBN 9781909131248 Cover image: © Pacemaker Press. Acknowledgements The authors of this report are extremely grateful to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Community Relations Council for funding this research project and its publication. A huge debt of gratitude is also due to those who gave their time to be interviewed, and for the honesty and candour with which they related their experiences - these were often quite emotive experiences. The Institute for Conflict Research (ICR) was commissioned to undertake the interviews presented within this report. These interviews were conducted with great care and skill with ICR capturing many voices which we hope have been represented fairly and accurately within this publication. Finally, warm recognition must be given to those who transcribed the recordings, and the care they took with this painstaking task. 4 CONTENTS List of Tables, Figures and illustrations ............................................................... 7 Glossary ............................................................................................................. 8 Executive Summary ........................................................................................... 9 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 14 1.1 Why we wrote this report ............................................................................................................ 14 1.2 How we set about the task ............................................................................................................. 15 2. WHY ARE FLAGS IMPORTANT? ..................................................................... 18 2.1 Symbolic contest in Ireland and Northern Ireland ......................................................................... 18 2.2 Symbolic contestation after the Agreement .................................................................................. 21 2.3 Post-Agreement divergent practice on flying the Union flag......................................................... 23 2.4 The handling of the flag issue in local councils .............................................................................. 25 2.5 The symbolic and cultural environment of Belfast City Council .................................................... 26 3. HOW EVENTS UNFOLDED ............................................................................. 29 3.1 The build-up to the vote: inside City Hall ....................................................................................... 29 3.2 The build-up to the vote: outside City Hall .................................................................................... 35 3.3 The night of the vote ...................................................................................................................... 38 3.4 The first week of the protest .......................................................................................................... 42 3.5 The protest escalates ..................................................................................................................... 44 3.6 Political reactions: support, alarm and ridicule ............................................................................. 48 3.7 Efforts to conclude the protest ...................................................................................................... 51 3.8 The decline of the protest .............................................................................................................. 57 4. SHIFTS IN THE PUBLIC MOOD ....................................................................... 61 4.1 The evidence from polling .............................................................................................................. 61 4.2 The non-protesting Protestants ..................................................................................................... 64 4.3 Attitudes within nationalism and the centre ground ..................................................................... 66 4.4 The response in the media and on social media ............................................................................ 68 5 4.5 The role of civil society ................................................................................................................... 73 5. WHO ORGANISED THE PROTESTS? ............................................................... 76 5.1 Political manipulation ..................................................................................................................... 76 5.2 The use of social media in organising protests .............................................................................. 77 5.3 A ‘people’s protest?’ ...................................................................................................................... 80 5.4 The role of the paramilitaries ......................................................................................................... 81 5.5 The ‘flag provocateurs’ ................................................................................................................... 85 6. WHAT CAUSED THE PROTESTS? .................................................................... 88 6.1 Social drivers: the impact of gender and generational differences ............................................... 88 6.2 Emotive drivers: the effects of alienation ...................................................................................... 93 6.3 Ideological drivers: arising from opposition to the Agreement ..................................................... 95 6.4 Cultural drivers: a defensive celebration of culture ....................................................................... 98 6.5 Political drivers: arising from distrust of political institutions ..................................................... 101 6.6 Economic drivers: arising from relative deprivation .................................................................... 104 6.7 What distinguished the flag protests? ......................................................................................... 106 7. POLICING THE PROTESTS ............................................................................ 108 7.1 Loyalist criticisms of policing ........................................................................................................ 109 7.2 Nationalist criticisms of policing................................................................................................... 111 7.3 The legal challenge ....................................................................................................................... 112 7.4 Monitoring the Police: the views of the independent bodies ..................................................... 117 7. 5 Overall assessment of the policing response .............................................................................. 120 7.6 Criminal justice ........................................................................................................................... 122 8. THE LEGACY OF THE FLAG PROTEST ............................................................ 128 8.1 The impact on politics .................................................................................................................. 128 8.2 The impact on community relations ............................................................................................ 132 8.3 Other research studies on the protest ......................................................................................... 138 8.4 Perspectives from community relations organisations ................................................................ 139 8.5 The future of reconciliation work ............................................................................................... 142 6 9. Conclusion ................................................................................................
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