Further to the recent Irish News articles on flags and emblems, I thought you might be interested in my attempts to have flags removed from lampposts in my home town of Ballymoney last year.
I was not surprised when various flags (mainly the Union flag and the Ulster Banner) appeared on lampposts in early June in advance of the marching season in mid-July. However, when they were still flying in mid-September, I decided to write to my local councillors to ask them to have them removed.
I was amazed when I was told that they were not the responsibility of the council but rather the Department for Infrastructure (DfI).
I then rang the department only to be told firstly that they didn’t deal with flags, and secondly that there was nothing they could do anyway as the flags were put up by members of the public.
Not to be deterred, I contacted all five of my MLAs. The only one who responded told me that under Article 87 of the Roads (NI) Order 1993 it was an offence to attach unauthorised signs to lampposts and gave me a direct line number (0300 200 7899) to ring at the very same Department for Infrastructure.
I duly rang the number (it’s not quite direct as you have to press option one) and got through to an employee who actually knew what she was talking about. She confirmed that I could lodge a complaint about unauthorised flags, but I needed to know the postcode. Luckily I did as I live on that street.
She said that she would pass the information onto a ‘mapping team’ who presumably added it to all the other complaints they receive.
Rather impressively, I was given a tracking number so that I could follow the progress of my complaint on NI Direct by clicking onto ‘Track progress of a reported road fault or issue’.
To be honest I didn’t hold out much hope, as the get-out clause on the website states that due to a lack of money, the department has to prioritise repair work. Nevertheless, the flags disappeared less than three weeks after I lodged my complaint.
So, it’s definitely worth contacting the DfI, not least so that they get the message that we don’t all want to be looking at bedraggled and tattered flags all year round. Hopefully it might also deter those who keep insisting on putting them up if they are repeatedly taken down.
Alison Clarke (Dr), Ballymoney, Co Antrim
