DUP Alderman John Finlay has condemned the flying of Irish tricolours in Rasharkin against the wishes of the majority in the village, and has challenged Sinn Fein to speak out.
Alderman Finlay said: “At a time when the whole community is united in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, Republicans in North Antrim remain determined to foment sectarian tension and divisions.
“Only recently they were ripping the Union Jack off an NHS supporting poster on private property in Dunloy, and now they are busily plastering Rasharkin with Irish tricolours and posters commemorating the hunger strikers. Just as the silent majority in Dunloy was disgusted with what happened to the NHS poster, I am certain that the silent majority in Rasharkin are equally disgusted with what is happening in Rasharkin.
So far, Sinn Fein, as far as I am aware, have made no comment on either Dunloy or Rasharkin. Will they now speak out on both matters?
“In closing, it’s worth reflecting on the fact that the legacy of the hunger strikes is one of utter ignominy and failure.
“Rasharkin Republicans might want to wallow in romantic memories of the hunger strikers, but I am fairly sure that the likes of Bobby Sands and Francis Hughes did not die so that Michelle O’Neill and her colleagues would end up administering British rule in a Northern Ireland Assembly.
“Perhaps on that basis alone, it might be prudent for those who erected the posters and tricolours on the streets of Rasharkin to quietly take them down.”
