Allister Welcomes Action on Failure to Fly Union Flag at Ballymena Courthouse
12 February 2013
Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“After noticing that Ballymena Courthouse failed to fly the Union Flag on 6th February to mark the Accession of Her Majesty the Queen I tabled an urgent written question to the Justice Minister demanding an explanation and asking what action was to be taken.
“The Minister has responded today and informed me that the Union Flag was not flying “due to an oversight by G4S Secure Solutions (UK)”. Under the terms of their contract G4S are required to fly the Union Flag from all court premises on designated days. Minister Ford advises me that G4S were asked for an immediate report on why this failure occurred and that the Chief Executive of to the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service will be meeting with the Managing Director of G4S to “urgently discuss the issue”.
“This is welcome but it would appear that Ballymena was not the only Courthouse to not fly the National Flag on 6th February. According to a report in the Irish News the Flag was not flown from Londonderry, Enniskillen and Dungannon as well. I intend to press Minister Ford on this issue. It would appear that the issue is not just limited to Ballymena and one wonders if other Designated Days have passed when the Flag did not fly from all our courts.
“It’s bad enough that the flying of the Flag has been restricted to designated days never mind that it isn’t flown on one!”
Note to editors:
Mr Allister’s question and the answer received were as follows:
To ask the Minister of Justice (i) why the Union flag was not flown from Ballymena Courthouse on the designated day 6 February 2012; (ii) whether disciplinary or other action has been taken in consequence; (iii) what action has been taken; and (iv) what steps have been taken to prevent this happening again.
The Union flag was not flown at Ballymena Courthouse on 6 February 2013 due to an oversight by G4S Secure Solutions (UK) Limited (G4S), the security and ancilliary services provider to the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service (NICTS).
Under the terms of the contract with G4S, they are required to fly the Union flag at all court premises on designated flag flying days. G4S were asked for an immediate report on why this failure occurred and have advised that it was due to human error. The NICTS Chief Executive is meeting the Northern Ireland Managing Director of G4S urgently to discuss this matter. Any disciplinary action will be a matter for G4S.
