Yesterday it was masked thugs armed with cudgels alongside graffiti threatening Catholics with crucifixion. Today it’s a Nazi banner and a Confederate battle flag flying near a Loyalist bonfire site in Carrickfergus.

According to the story in the Belfast Telegraph story:

Alliance Party MLA Stewart Dickson condemned their appearance as an “incredibly sinister move”.

“Part of the celebration for the Twelfth of July incorporates the memory of thousands of Orangemen who gave their lives during the Second World War,” he said.

“For anyone to put swastika flags around a bonfire as part of their so-called celebration has taken a most sinister turn, and is flying in the face of everything that I ever understood the Orange Order to stand for. This requires the whole community to stand up and say ‘enough is enough’.”

“I would hope that the Orange Order would join me and other community leaders in Carrickfergus and say ‘this is not in our name and we don’t want these symbols of fascism rearing their head in our community’.”

An Orange Order spokesman said: “The Orange Institution is not responsible for the erection of these flags in Carrickfergus. Public representatives, including Mr Dickson, have a role to play and should not shirk their responsibilities if there are concerns within certain communities regarding particular flags and symbols.”

Meanwhile paramilitary flags have also been erected across north Down in a “concerted campaign of intimidation”.

Read the story here.