The number of paramilitary flags on main roads in Northern Ireland has halved, but thousands of flags are still used to mark out loyalist and republican districts, according to research published today.
A report by Queen’s University Belfast shows the number of paramilitary flags flown on arterial routes during July has more than halved, dropping from 161 flags in 2006 to 73 in 2009.
The research showed the largest proportion of flags in July 2009 belonged to the loyalist UVF; also that the vast majority represent the unionist or loyalist tradition.
During July 2006-09, the average number of unionist flags was 3,868 compared with 245 nationalist flags, while during September, the average number of unionist flags was 1,411 compared with 505 nationalist.
Public Displays of Flags and Emblems in Northern Ireland is published by the Institute of Irish Studies at Queen’s.