Flag protestors enter council chamber

It is understood the group, made up of around five adults and up to 12 teenagers, was carrying Union flags and a banner protesting against the proposed Maze Prison conflict resolution centre.

Newly elected Mayor for the Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough, Cllr Sean McGuigan of Sinn Fein, told the Tyrone Times the protest was quiet and short-lived.

“We had been told prior to the meeting that there was a protest planned, but as we were going into the chamber for the meeting, there was nobody waiting outside”, Cllr McGuigan explained.

“Then after the meeting started, we got word to say that about 15 of them (protestors) were there.

“There were about 10 to 12 young people, and possibly five older ones. They brought in banners and flags.

“We didn’t acknowledge them and they didn’t acknowledge us, and they didn’t say anything to me. When they were leaving they shouted something like ‘wasters’, but, apart from that, there was no interaction.”