Council admits to removing castle flag for G8 brochure
FERMANAGH District Council has admitted to removing the St. George’s flag from a photograph of Enniskillen Castle in a special G8 newsletter.
The leaflet containing essential information on how the county will be disrupted during the global event was delivered to all households by the Council last month and included a number of local photographs, but it is the image of the Castle without its famous flag flying above it that is now causing an uproar.
Ulster Unionist MLA Tom Elliott told The Impartial Reporter yesterday: “The re-writing of history is one thing, but here we appear to see part of our history being air-brushed from existence. Both are unacceptable.”
Mr Elliott has written to Council Chief Executive Brendan Hegarty requesting an explanation.
“There are many in the wider Unionist community — myself included — who will view this as further evidence that Fermanagh District Council is fast becoming a cold house for Unionists,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Council said it was decided that “no flags would be included within the leaflet”.
“The design team gave long and detailed consideration to the content and design of the leaflet. In relation to any decision around the inclusion of flags, the design team was mindful of the fact that the flags of the eight countries participating in the G8 Summit plus the flags of the European Commission, the European Council and the Republic of Ireland would all need to be portrayed. Consequently, it was decided that no flags would be included within the leaflet and the document is consistent in that regard.
“The draft document was discussed at the Development Committee meeting on Monday 13 May 2013. Some amendments were suggested at that meeting but there were no concerns raised in connection with the absence of flags,” she said.
