A Fingal county councillor has opposed a motion to fly the Irish flag at County Hall in Swords, Dublin, as he said that it could offend foreign nationals living in the area.

Solidarity-People Before Profit's Matthew Waine has voted against the proposal put forward by Sinn Fein's Daire Ní Laoí who said she was proposing that the flag should be flown outside county hall as a symbol of tolerance, inclusion and respect.

Matthew Waine was one of just two members who voted against the proposal.

Waine, a representative for Mulhuddart, suggested that the flying the red flag of Marxism and Socialism would be more appropriate.

According to the Dublin Gazette, he said:


“We have one of the most multi-cultural populations in the whole country living in Fingal, and I think we need to consider the sensitivity of this.

“The issue of religion, language, nationality … all of those issues are extremely sensitive and we’ve seen how that can play out to divide people.

“I would prefer to see the flagpoles used to express solidarity, so for example on the week of Pride, we should show the Rainbow flag.

“I think we should fly the flags of minority groups, like Pavee Point.

“I come from the tradition of the workers’ movement which doesn’t see the country of your birth as being anything significant.

“I would prefer to see the red flag fly outside County Hall, and maybe in the future that will be the case.”


His comments have sparked a backlash online, with people on Twitter and Reddit saying that Waine's comments were both disrespectful to Irish people and to foreign nationals.

Fianna Fail's Cllr Darragh Butler responded to Waine's comments by saying that it was "staggering" that a councillor would suggest we "hide our own flag away".

The motion was eventually passed, with a majority of 34 votes for and just two votes against.