Irish language volunteers spend hours stitching 70ft by 70ft flag

IRISH language activists have spent hours stitching a 70ft by 70ft flag which will be placed on Belfast’s Black Mountain ahead of today’s march to lobby for language legislation.

Around a dozen volunteers, including a group of women aged between 60 and 86, have hand-stitched a 50ft white fáinne on a red background - the symbol of campaign group An Dream Dearg.

Organiser Cuisle Nic Liam said activists aim to put the flag on Belfast’s Black Mountain early tomorrow morning.

“We previously took to the mountain last year when the DUP were threatening to renege on the New Decade New Approach agreement,” she said.

Community spirit alive and well in west Belfast making a 70ft flag, stitched by pensioners and young people by hand today ahead of tomorrow’s march #AchtAnois @irish_news @dreamdearg @CnaG @FailteFeirste @FeileBelfast pic.twitter.com/WjoG39t6Z9

— Mal McCann (@MalMccann) May 20, 2022

"We thought this would send a very clear message, especially to those who can’t make it on the day.

“We hope that they will see our logo on the mountain and see that our demands for rights recognition and respect for the Irish language are still very much at the forefront.”

Ms Nic Liam said making the flag, which was done with help from Gaelforce artists, “had been quite an operation”.

“We had to buy 300 metres of red satin material and we have about 100 metres of white material,” she said.

“We’re hoping for good weather so it glistens in the sun.”

She said the red background was made of 14 strips which were sewn together on a sewing machine.

“We’ve got a brilliant group of ladies who have hand-stitched the white circle on to the red,” she said.

“They’re a 50 plus group from Tar Anall (a group for republican ex-prisoners and their families).”

Volunteers began making the flag on Monday and did not finish until yesterday afternoon.

“We had some people threading the needles for the ladies,” she said.

“They taught me and my colleague how to hand-stitch. We also have Yas from the Cuban Solidarity Group who gave us a hand.”

Volunteers will meet at 7.30am today to put up the flag. It will be removed after the march.

Ms Nic Liam said she hoped the starkness of the red flag would be visible to many activists travelling into Belfast for today’s march.

“The red signifies red with anger - we’re still waiting for our rights to be enshrined in law,” she said.

“The white signifies the fáinne. If you obtain a level of fluency in Irish you get a fáinne.”