{"id":611796,"date":"2026-09-02T02:18:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T02:18:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/611796\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T02:18:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T02:18:18","slug":"grossly-offensive-to-victims-flags-erected-in-memory-of-billy-wright-in-co-tyrone-town-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/611796\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Grossly offensive to victims\u2019: Flags erected in memory of Billy Wright in Co Tyrone town \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The Department of Infrastructure in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/northern-ireland\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/northern-ireland\/\">Northern Ireland<\/a> is considering action over flags erected in memory of former LVF leader Billy Wright in Dungannon, which it described as \u201cgrossly offensive\u201d to victims.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Concern has been raised following the erection of flags reading \u201cBilly was Wright\u201d on lampposts close to Dungannon Park.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">It follows previous similar incidents in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/tyrone\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/tyrone\/\">Co Tyrone<\/a> town in 2016 and 2020.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Wright, believed to have been involved in a number of murders, was killed inside the former Maze Prison in 1997.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">In a statement, the Department of Infrastructure said: \u201cThese flags have clearly been erected to intimidate local people and are grossly offensive to victims and survivors. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cFlags should not be used to intimidate and mark out territory. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cThe Department is engaging with the local <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/police-service-of-northern-ireland-psni\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/police-service-of-northern-ireland-psni\/\">PSNI<\/a> and is awaiting further guidance before determining any appropriate course of action.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/sinn-fein\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/sinn-fein\/\">Sinn F\u00e9in<\/a> MLA Colm Gildernew slammed the flags as \u201cintimidation and provocation\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cThe erection of these flags are a clear attempt to create division and fear within the local community in a shared space. They are a crude attempt at marking out territory,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cThis type of intimidation and provocation must be condemned by all and calls must be made for the removal of these flags.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cEveryone should be able to go about their business in Dungannon without being confronted by symbols of sectarianism and paramilitarism.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cI will be contacting the PSNI to find out what action can be taken to get these flags removed as quickly as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Earlier, a police spokesman said: \u201cWe are aware of the flags however under current legislation they are not deemed to constitute a criminal offence.\u201d \u2013 PA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Department of Infrastructure in Northern Ireland is considering action over flags erected in memory of former LVF&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611797,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43,2443,19828],"class_list":["post-611796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-northern-ireland","tag-tyrone"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}