Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“I was amazed to discover a notice on the Assembly website this morning informing the public that the Assembly Commission is “seeking to secure the services of an experienced individual and/or organisation(s) to support an Equality Impact Assessment on the Flying of the Union Flag from Parliament Buildings.
“This contract is expected to commence in July 2014 and last until March 2015.”
“The issue of flying the Union Flag at Stormont on a daily basis – as is the norm at Westminster and the Welsh Assembly and was also the policy at Holyrood until the SNP came to power at which point they enforced a designated days – has been something TUV has been campaigning about for a considerable period of time.
“I am disappointed to say the least that work on Equality Impact Assessment on this issue will not even commence until July and will last well into next year.
“Even by Stormont standards this is exceptional feet dragging! Remember a deal has been promised on this issue since the centenary of the Covenant in September 2012 – when the failure of Stormont to display the National Flag during the huge Orange demonstration angered many Unionists.
“Unionists on the Commission need to explain why they agreed to such an inordinate delay on an issue which is of considerable interest to the public.”
Note to editors
The notice about the EqIA can be read online here http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/ABOUT-THE-ASSEMBLY/Corporate-Information/Secretariat/Tender-Opportunities/Equality-Impact-Assessment-EQIA-on-the-Flying-of-the-Union-Flag-from-Parliament-Buildings/