Flags in Dublin put up by anti-immigrant groups will not be removed

Ottoline Spearman

Dublin City Council has said that hundreds of flags erected across the city by anti-immigration groups will not be removed.

Instead, the council will launch initiatives to promote a deeper understanding of the Irish flag, according to the Irish Times.

The flags began appearing in August, with calls from councillors and members of the public for them to be removed.

Proponents of the flags say they signify patriotism and national pride; but opponents argue they are designed to intimidate immigrants.

The decision by the council follows concerns that any large-scale removal would provoke an angry response and could put council workers in danger.

Speaking on Newstalk, Sinn Féin councillor Daithí Doolan said people need to look at why they're putting up the flags in the first place: "I'm not going to demand other people put themselves at risk to take down the flags when I think the people who put them up themselves need to look at the state of some of those flags and take them down out of honor for the flag and our communities.

"And also what we don't want to do is put our foot on somebody else's landmine and be drawn into a battle with them which we can't win."