Audio interview with Seamus Close (Alliance Party MLA for Lagan Valley), Sam Foster (UUP MLA for Fermanagh and South Tyrone) and Alex Maskey (Sinn Fein MLA for Belfast West) by Noel Thompson for the BBC. The Belfast Agreement/Good Friday Agreement acknowledged the political sensitivity surrounding the use of politically symbolic flags in Northern Ireland. Controversy over the display of flags at Stormont continued in 1999 and 2000. On 16 May 2000 The Flags Order Act gave the Secretary of State ultimate power to decide on the issue, if unresolved, in the Northern Ireland Assembly. In September of that year Peter Mandelson drafted legislation proposing that the Union flag be flown over certain government buildings on particular days in the calendar year. Seamus Close, Sam Foster and Alex Maskey discuss Mandelson’s proposals. This interview forms part of the BBC Northern Ireland A State Apart online resource which documents thirty years of peace and violence in Northern Ireland from the Troubles to the Belfast Agreement/Good Friday Agreement.
Date of Release/Broadcast: Unknown
Name of First Interviewee: Seamus Close
Role at time of Interview: Seamus Close (Alliance Party MLA for Lagan Valley), Sam Foster (UUP MLA for Fermanagh and South Tyrone), Alex Maskey (Sinn Fein MLA for Belfast West)
Interviewer: Noel Thompson
Purpose: News, Research
Media: Audio
Copyright: BBC © 2012
Link: Listen to the interview
Programme/Book/Article: BBC Northern Ireland A State Apart
Time Period covered: 1998
Key Individuals: Seamus Close, Sam Foster, Alex Maskey, Peter Mandelson
Key Words: Belfast Agreement, Good Friday Agreement, Alliance Party, UUP, Sinn Fein, flag, Assembly, community relations