Union Jack flying south of the border

The butchers apron flying in Monaghan. I wonder are they related to Jim Allister as his parents were Monaghan people.

That is an interesting perspective, which I had not fully considered, and I need to take on board. You should also take on board that the Irish tricolour holds exactly the same feelings for a large number of people living on this island. For many Unionists it represents Irish government collusion, bloody Friday, Kings Mills, and currently ‘up the ra’, and the threats damaging free flow of goods through our nation.

To be fair, the UK doesn't need to aspire to take over part of Ireland because it has already done exactly that. It seems to me you are projecting onto "a significant minority in Ireland" the behaviour that the UK has already engaged in.

As for whether the inclusion of the St. Patrick's cross suggests an aspiration to the whole island — it was the device the British government chose to represent the whole island. Only since a much later date has it been claimed that it now only represents part of the island, and that seems to be something of a retrospective rationalisation — there has never been any official statement to this effect, SFAIK. (And British monarchs continued to claim to be monarchs of the whole island until at least 1953.) So the union flag lends itself to misrepresentation/misunderstanding just as readily as the tricolour does.

This obsession with flags is something of an Ulster preoccupation. A union flag being flown on someone's house in the Republic might surprise me, but it would hardly offend me; I'd just think the people doing that were a bit odd. The truth is that any flag, regardless of its design, can be employed as the badge of a movement that behaves aggressively and offensively, and both the tricolour and the union flag have been employed in this way. Sometimes you just have to get over these things, and not let them get to you. That's what adults do.

Well, flags differentiate countries and "set them apart from one another", but that's not problematic.

Flags and banners of all kinds are really pre-capitalist versions of brands or trademarks; they all serve as badges of identity, and they are primarily used to signify belonging to a particular group or proclaiming a particular identity than they are to signify rejection of or separation from another group or identity. We need to get to a point in Ireland where people can express their affinity through the display of flags without other people finding that threatening or hostile.

Do you think that having no UK flag flown over certain hotels, restaurants or other tourist attractions in Dublin (although up to eight other national flags can be seen), is also making a statement?

Agreed, I certainly rarely get offended by the flying of flags.

I certainly rarely get offended by the flying of flags.

I was travelling at the weekend through Northern Ireland with several people from other countries. I had a little smile to myself, but did not get involved in the conversation when they discussed how they loved all the flags flying.’here’. Most were from Spain and they remarked that they would love to see the Spanish flag flying as often. One of them did comment that they had been to Norway and that there is lots of flags there as well.

Most were from Spain and they remarked that they would love to see the Spanish flag flying as often. One of them did comment that they had been to Norway and that there is lots of flags there as well.

I know it is a little more complex than them just enjoying the colour, but I thought it was just interesting. A visitors take on the flags flying on lamp posts.

I often think I have two heads when I come on here and listen to peoples dislike of flags flying. I genuinely look forward to the 1st of July to see all the colour going up, and then coming down again next weekend is another nice notable change. it’s a bit like the time changing or the seasons, it gives us a little variety

Don't worry, they'll be back in,....checks thread....., 2 months with a response.

Greenland- Denmark

There a house outside town here with a huge American flag in the front garden. I don't care about it, just seems odd to me. But then some Americans are big into flying their flag.

Are you taking the mick?

The flag of a country (representing the actions of its government and military over centuries) is the same, according to you, as the flag of a sports club?

Some of those sports clubs have GAA grounds and memorials named after members of the IRA.  Some of the memorials were erected within gaelic clubs where players are not remembered as gaels but as members of the Provisional IRA. Lochrie/Campbell GAA Park in Dromintee, south Armagh is named after IRA members Jim Lochrie and Sean Campbell who were killed when a land mine exploded prematurely at Killeen in 1975. People are free to fly the flag of a club named after terrorists who were guilty of crimes against their own neighbours, just as they are free to flag of the jurisdiction - a western inclusive G7 country - they are in. That is democracy.

Hard to know how to respond to this nonsense. Comparing the flag that represents my country to a confederate flag. Sort of sums up the problems we have creating reconciliation on this island.

And as for Unionists flying Confederate flags, again, absolute nonsense. Of course you will find head cases at the fringe of every community doing nasty stuff, but I have never ever seen a Confederate flag flying, or being displayed in any way within my community. Indeed, was it not the GAA that were famous for flying the confederate flag until quite recently? The difference is, there is no way I would judge the GAA on the actions of a few fringe head cases

You are intent on slinging mud, but not smart enough to make it stick.

Sean Russell, Frank Ryan, et al were Republicans, not Fascists - they were in Germany working for Ireland against our historical and hereditary enemy, England.

The only Fascists in Ireland were Fine Gael and its supporters.

Fine Gael Fascists fought side by side with the German Nazis and Spanish Fascists during the Spanish Civil War.

They were fascist collaborators at the very least.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend".

Not the smartest move during this period in history.