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St_Patrick's_saltire.svg.pngBelfast politician calls for flags and mural ban during Giro d'Italia visit
A politcian in Northern Ireland is calling for a proposed ban on election posters being displayed on the route of the Giro d'Italia when the three-week race begins there in May be extended to include flags and sectarian murals.
Anna Lo, assembly member for South Belfast for the non-sectarian Alliance Party, says that with coverage of the opening days of the race potentially being seen by hundreds of millions of television viewers worldwide, Northern Ireland, and the city of Belfast, should be sending out a unified message rather than reinforcing historical divisions.
During the past week, politcial parties in Northern Ireland, encouraged by environment minister Mark Durkan have moved towards an agreement not to display campaign posters for the European and local council elections on 22 May on the route the Giro will follow.
The race begins on Friday 10 May, with the opening two stages starting and finishing in Belfast and Stage 3 beginning in Armagh then heading across the border to end in Dublin.
But Ms Lo urged that if the parties were united in agreeing to remove those posters, "then we should also look to take down the flags that are on the same lamp posts," reports Irishnews.com.
"People are tired of flags being used to mark territory and intimidate local people," said Ms Lo.
"This is not the image that we want to be sending out to the world during such a prestigious event.
"Funding will be made available in towns along the route to improve the image of eyesores such as derelict buildings but I have a bigger problem with images of paramilitary gunmen.
"Do we really want these images to be visible on the route when millions of people will be watching the race on television?
"As political parties were so willing to support the ban on election posters along the route, I hope they will show similar support for a ban on flags and paramilitary murals."
While races such as the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France are often used as a platform to make a politcial point - last year's Grand Depart of the latter on Corsica saw separatists daub pro-independence slogans on the roads the race passed over - the situation in Northern Ireland is different.
The flags and murals that Ms Lo is talking about wouldn't be there specifically for the Giro, but form part of the streetscape in Belfast and elsewhere, and many people, whether describing themselves as unionists or nationalists, wish to keep it that way.
That was brought home in December 2012 when a decision by Belfast City Council to limit the days per year that the union flag was flown from Belfast City Hall - in line with British government guidelines elsewhere in the UK - sparked protests from some loyalist factions who wished the flag to continue to be flown on a daily basis, those protests leading to riots.
As for the murals, there are approximately 2,000 throughout Northern Ireland, the vast majority of them sectarian in nature - some, such as the one commemorating the Titanic above, aren't - and which have become a tourist attraction in their own right since the ending of the Troubles in recent ytears.
Thje route of the Giro itself has come under criticism from the nationalist community; last October, Darach McQuaid, whose Dublin-based sports consultancy Shadetree Sports is organising the Giro d'Italia's visit, defended the decision of organisers RCS Sport not to route the race through the traditionally nationalist area of West Belfast, as well as the Mourne Mountains.
Responding to critcism from Sinn Fein and SDLP politicians, McQuaid - brother of former UCI president Pat McQuaid - told the BBC: "We can't bring the race past every front door in every household in Belfast, or for that matter through Northern Ireland as a whole.
"There is always going to be somebody who'll say: 'Why is the race not coming past our front door, or through our area?" he added.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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Domestic terrorism? You made that up
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23 comments
I strongly suspect it's more about gentrifying Belfast for the world's scrutiny; when the G8 met there last summer, they put up fake shop fronts to cover all the closed, empty lots.
So long as nobody touches the one of Eddie, I shan't be overly bothered.
Really??!! You didn't know there was a religious divide in Northern Ireland prior to reading this article on Road.cc?
Blimey!
Why do you have the St Patrick saltire in the header photo?
The St Patrick saltire was an emblem of the united island of Ireland which no longer exists.
Surely, you should display the Union flag when it's about Northern Ireland and the Irish tricolor when it's about the Irish Republic.
Or a photo of the Giants' Causeway. Which would avoid all the really, really dull debates about flags.
St Patrick is the patronage saint of Ireland both North & South! & because the Giro is taking place in the island of Ireland, it does not care or give credence to sectarianism & neither should this cycling website, nor cycling for that matter so the choice of emblem is an excellent choice - well done road.cc
You'd be fine in Dublin.
Ah, to be sure in Dublin, you'd be grand.
Its a minefield, I don't like the Union flag personally, and can imagine that people waving them in support of their fav English riders will do so in the spirit of sport… how that is received once a few bevvies have been downed in certain areas will be interesting.
An interesting point indeed. I'm looking at taking the family to Dublin for the stage finish on Sunday. Many british riders are on Team Sky, but who wants to pay for a Team Sky flag?! Might have to ensure that any union flag gets put firmly away when not actually standing by the barriers waiting for the race to pass.
It is highly unlikely that folk who will have travelled to watch the Giro will be lining any contentious streets and waving flegs. They will be heading for the City Hall, Stormont, Stranmillis or Titanic Quarter if in Belfast. I think there'll be more agro from motorists during the TTT on the Friday with the whole of the city centre being shut down.
Me I've got my viewing spots for all three stages sorted out and can't wait. Will also get to cycle Stage 2 the week before the peleton show how it's done.
+1 for bfslxo
Asking for common sense in Northern Ireland, good luck with that one
Asking for common sense in Northern Ireland, good luck with that one
Another example of politicians sticking their noses in where it's not needed or wanted.
Who would have known or even cared about the religious divide in Northern Ireland before this was article was posted?
And I'd like to know why on earth it would be important to make sure someone in Italy doesn't see an election poster for a Local Council election. The clue is in the word 'Local' - the posters won't influence the voting decisions of anyone in Italy because they won't vote here.
Any wonder nothing constructive ever gets done in Stormont when they find such trivial things like this to argue about!!!
(im being sarcastic by the way)
I reckon this bike race is just the thing to heal all the years of division and pain in Northern Ireland.
I reckon the reasonable people of Belfast will immediately remove all sectarian related paraphernalia for the sake of the Giro.
I reckon Ms Lo is on to something here and i wish her all the best in her endeavours.
Potemkin Belfast, great, just what we need. Just pick a route and show it, warts and all.
I really can't wait to see the Giro over here but my one big fear is that the gabshites on either side may see this as a great way to get their message across and try and pull some stupid stunts on the route (you only have to see the response to the "GAA shirt that wasn't a GAA shirt on Eastenders" nonsense to see that it doesn't take much of a perceived slight to create misplaced indignation among the hard-of-thinking). Is there any chance Bernard Hinault will ride in the peloton in case of any protestors trying to block roads?!?
I'm sure use of sponsorship banners, carefully placed cameras and some route planning will mean any murals and banners won't be that noticable.
It would however be good if some of the over the top territorial marking were removed.
I was thinking about heading over to see a stage along with visiting family.
Both TTT and Stage 2 will roll through various inter-phases of the city. As I was saying to someone a few months back. The mobile cameras won't pick up on the murals/flags as they will be focused on the riders. Any static camera is going to ensure that the background is pretty much neutral.
I dont know mate, your right about the bike held cameras, but just look at the helicopter pictures we get from the GT's, they show allsorts of images from castles, houses, bridges etc. Some of these images will bound to be picked up by them. However the little Italian, German or French kid watching on their tv probably wont see them for what they are which is good.
I bet the Giro has been routed so it doesn't go past any of the "peace walls" which litter Belfast.
Anyway, the camera won't be able to pick up decent mural pictures through the almost inevitable rain.
Not overtly perhaps. However, the Harland & Wolff shipyards of that time were emblematic of overt sectarian discrimination by some employers. I suspect not everyone would agree that a mural glorifying Harland & Wolff is entirely free of sectarian under-tones.
In Northern Ireland if you want to see a secterian slant to something, you can.
They struggle enough getting relativly neutral symbols, George Best, the Giants Causway and the Titanic being fairly netural.
Only in Northern Ireland would a mural of a man in a balaclava pointing a gun out be ok, but one of a man who died in 1658 riding a horse be too controversial and removed.