Stormont: Flags body submits delayed report

The commission's work was stalled shortly after it began, due to the collapse of the power-sharing executive in January 2017

The commission set up by Stormont to examine flags and culture has submitted its long-delayed report to the Executive Office.

The Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Expression (FICT) was set up in June 2016.

It was due to report back within 18 months, but the collapse of Stormont stalled its work.

It is understood commission members held their final meeting last week to sign off on the report.

It is believed the report runs to approximately 150 pages and makes recommendations to the executive across a number of areas that have long caused division in Northern Ireland.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Executive Office said the executive would now "take time to consider any findings and recommendations before deciding on the way forward".

It is not clear when the report will be made public.

Last year, BBC News NI revealed the body had cost more than £730,000, with more than half of that figure spent on fees and expenses for its members.

The commission has 15 members, seven of whom were appointed by the political parties while eight were employed through a recruitment process.

It paused its work in late 2018 and panel members agreed not to meet again until the assembly was restored.

• Calls for flags body to be suspended

• Securing consensus will be 'challenging'

It resumed its work in January 2020 and had initially been asked to finish its work by 10 April, but the executive said the ability of the commission to meet that deadline had been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Who heads the commission?

The FICT is jointly chaired by community relations worker Neville Armstrong and Prof Dominic Bryan.

Prof Bryan is a reader at the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics at Queen's University Belfast and lists his research as focusing upon the role played by symbols and rituals during the conflict and peace in Northern Ireland.

Why was the commission set up?

The commission was announced as part of the Fresh Start Agreement, negotiated by the Stormont parties in November 2015.

It was supposed to help the parties reach consensus on contentious issues surrounding flags, emblems and identity in Northern Ireland, and produce recommendations for the executive to take forward.

It began its work in June 2016, after its make-up was announced by the then first and deputy first ministers.

Five of those on the panel have links to unionism - it also includes a former Alliance Party special adviser, a former SDLP adviser and a former Sinn Féin councillor.