SDLP and police discuss flags

Progress has been made over the controversial issue of flags in Northern Ireland, SDLP leader Mark Durkan has said.

Mr Durkan was speaking on Thursday after he and councillor Danny O'Connor met Assistant Chief Constable Duncan McCausland.

Mr Durkan said the police accepted that all flags can be intimidatory.

"The police accept that any flag can be provocative - it depends on the manner and location of its placing and use," he said.

"They are not precluded from acting against an Ulster or Union flag if it is being used or abused provocatively.

We are fully committed to our policy to ensure that paramilitary flags are not flown in communities across Northern Ireland Duncan McCausland Assistant chief constable

"They have been taking specific action in relation to paramilitary flags, although we would like to see this taken more quickly."

Mr O'Connor, a councillor in Larne, claimed his elderly mother was threatened while confronting a group of "known UDA men" erecting an Ulster flag outside her home earlier this week.

He said the outlawed paramilitary group, the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), was putting Ulster flags up outside the homes of SDLP supporters and Catholic churches.

ACC McCausland described Thursday's meeting as "positive".

"We are fully committed to our policy to ensure that paramilitary flags are not flown in communities across Northern Ireland," he said.

"We are also committed to ensuring that other flags are not displayed in a provocative manner, which is likely to cause a breach of the peace."

He stressed that many of the issues surrounding the flying of flags could not be resolved with a policing solution.

On Wednesday, Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen said sectarian harassment in the County Antrim town had to end.

Mr Cowen called on those responsible for harassing Catholics in the town, including members of the local district policing partnership, to end "this provocation".

Mr O'Connor, a member of the local district policing partnership, said his mother was taken to hospital following the confrontation in the Craigyhill estate on Monday night.