Changing NI Commonwealth Games flag would risk polarisation, warns Gordon Lyons

Any move to change the flag used to represent Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games risks causing further controversy and polarisation, Gordon Lyons has said.

Stormont’s Communities Minister welcomed confirmation from Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland (CGNI) late on Tuesday that the Ulster Banner will continue to be used by the Northern Ireland team.

CGNI had earlier said that if it did not receive guidance from Stormont on which flag should be flown at the Games in Glasgow this summer, it would use the organisation’s corporate logo.

This led Mr Lyons, who has responsibility for sport, to write to the organisation stating his view that the Ulster Banner should be flown.

Commenting on Wednesday, First Minister Michelle O’Neill described a “conversation aimed at creating a more welcoming and inclusive space”.

She said: “I’m quite sure the athletes just want to get on with their training and preparation for the Games, I wish them well.

“It’s not an issue that we have discussed at Executive level, I note that Gordon Lyons as sports minister has articulated his view, which would be very much reflective of a DUP view.

“From my perspective I don’t believe that it generates a space that is welcoming and inclusive, but this ultimately was a decision for the organisation themselves. I think their starting point was right in terms of an inclusive space, and I commend that conversation to continue.”

The Ulster Banner was the flag of the devolved Northern Ireland government from 1953 until it was abolished in 1973.

In the Commonwealth Games, it has been used as the flag representing Northern Ireland.

Mr Lyons told the BBC Good Morning Ulster programme that he hopes the focus will now return to Northern Ireland’s athletes who are due to compete at the Games.

He said: “I wish that that hadn’t come to this. I wish that we could have maintained it without having brought this into public discourse and created this controversy.

“I’m pleased that the board have listened to the advice that I have given, the reason and the logic that I have provided as well.

“The focus now should be where it always should have been, which is on our athletes and making sure that we can actually support them.”

Mr Lyons said he does not believe there had been any controversy over the use of the Ulster Banner at past Commonwealth Games.

He said: “If there are some people who would feel more comfortable using an alternative flag, that’s one thing, but to take that decision would also have an opposite effect.

“Because there are many, many people who would have been disappointed if that were the case, and that’s why I think it was the right thing to keep it, in the absence of any alternative flag, in the absence of any agreement on something else that has broad support, it was right to maintain it because it maintains continuity, will hopefully stop any further politicisation of the sport.

“I think that it also honours the legacy of past competitors as well who have excelled under it.”

The minister added: “I think that changing it has the potential, and I think you’ve seen this over the last few days, for greater polarisation and controversy.

“That’s clearly why there has been media interest over this in the last number of days, because it’s not something simple and straightforward, because there has been huge, significant opposition to the proposed changes that were in place.”

Meanwhile, former world champion boxer Carl Frampton said the focus should be on sport, rather than flags.

He told the BBC: “In my opinion, and this may not be the opinion of other people, I think this is a non-issue and it is being made into something that it shouldn’t be.

“It is becoming political, it is a big political story now and this is about sport. We always say keep politics out of sport but people do like to drag it in.”

In a statement on Tuesday evening, CGNI said it had been asking Stormont since November 2020 for guidance regarding which flags should be flown at the Commonwealth Games.

It said following “extensive media coverage on Monday”, Mr Lyons “provided such guidance”.

The statement said: “The Minister for Communities, who holds the portfolio for sports, offered ‘clear and unequivocal guidance’ and stated: ‘For the avoidance of doubt, and to reiterate on the guidance which you have sought, the Ulster Banner should be used as the flag for Northern Ireland athletes at the Commonwealth Games.’

“We note this guidance, which will be implemented.

“The CGNI board and member sports are representative of the wider Northern Ireland community. We will continue to promote equality, diversity and inclusion in all we do, in line with our motto, One Community, One Team.”

On Wednesday, Sinn Fein Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins commended CGNI for trying to “be more inclusive and more respectful of all of their athletes”.

She added: “However, I think that’s a decision that should be very much led by the fantastic athletes that are there and it’s my understanding that they have now reached agreement on that.

“So look, I think it’s for them, it’s not really for us to dictate or get involved in, but I think that they have showed a real generosity of spirit.

“The Communities Minister offered guidance, I don’t think it was a decision, but what I would say is, as I’ve said previously, I think it’s very much for the athletes to decide.”