Union flags removed in local supermarket

Union flags removed in local supermarket

16 May 2012 - by David Telford

ONE of the Province’s leading retailers has explained why Union flags were removed from a display at its Ballynahinch store.

The removal of the flags by the store manager from a Cadbury chocolate display promoting the Olympic Games sparked concern among local people who felt the flags should have been allowed to remain.

Councillor Billy Walker and Down District UKIP representative Alan Lewis also said the flags should not have been removed, but SuperValu has revealed they were not intended to be permanent fixtures.

A company spokeswoman said a supplier went to the Lisburn Street store last Thursday to set up a display and added Union flags and balloons to be photographed to send to their head office in Great Britain.

“The supplier had intended to remove the additions before they left but unfortunately this didn’t happen as planned,” she continued. “The flags were on display for 12 hours.

“SuperValu stores manage the in-store point of sale very tightly and these additions to the display were unauthorised by the store manager. As such they were removed by him when he arrived.”

Councillor Walker said he has been “inundated” with calls from angry people about the removal of the flags which he claimed were on display for several days and confirmed he persuaded these people against mounting a protest outside the store.

He said if the flags were put in place for photographic purposes this should have been done when the store was closed to the public.

“It’s my understanding that someone from the nationalist community complained about the flags and that’s why they were removed. I wonder what will happen if a company includes a Union flag on any of its products in the run up to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee or the Olympics. Will SuperValu ban these products?

“People in Ballynahinch tell me the SuperValu store sold products with shamrocks on them in the run-up to St. Patrick’s Day but no one from the unionist community made any complaint.”

Mr. Lewis said he was “very disappointed” to learn the flags had been removed from the in-store display, arguing the decision was contrary to the spirit of the Olympics which “is a totally non-sectarian event.”