Northern Irish leader condemns burning of Polish flags

Peter Robinson: photo - flickr

“I think we need to have respect and understanding and tolerance for other traditions in our country,” he said.

Mr Robinson, himself the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, made the remarks following an open letter by Maciek Bator, head of the Polish Association of Northern Ireland.

Bator had highlighted the widespread burning of Polish flags in Belfast during the annual bonfires preceding the Orange Marches of 12 July, in which Protestants demonstrate their allegiance to Great Britain, marking an historic 1690 victory over a Catholic claimant to the Irish throne.

“We call on all political and community leaders in Northern Ireland to take urgent action to stop hatred and bigotry,” Bator declared.

“By not taking any actions and remaining silent, the leaders are effectively endorsing this sort of despicable behaviour,” he claimed.

Besides the burning of Polish flags, it was also reported that an electoral poster of Magdalena Wolska, a Polish candidate for the Irish nationalist SDLP party, was also torched.

Currently, there are about 30,000 Poles living in Northern Ireland, the vast majority of whom were raised as Catholics and moved to the region following Poland's accession to the EU in 2004.

In October 2011, loyalists planted a pipe bomb on the windowsill of a Polish couple's house in County Antrim.

Owing to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, power in Northern Ireland has been significantly devolved from Westminster.

Peter Robinson's powers as First Minister are equal to those of the Deputy First Minister, the latter position currently held by Catholic and former Irish Republican Army (IRA) leader Martin McGuinness. (nh)