Dublin City Council (DCC) has said it will meet with gardaí in response to concerns expressed about the erection of tricolours across the city by anti-immigration campaigners.
It follows requests by a number of councillors and residents groups for the local authority to take action in response to the practice, which they said is an attempt to intimidate and mark territory.
Over the summer, lines of tricolours have appeared on streets in a number of areas across the capital, including Ballyfermot, Coolock, Finglas and the north and south inner city.
The council has also said that that it will need a risk assessment of how to deal with the situation.
A number of well known anti-immigration campaigners have posted online in support of the erection of tricolours, similar to the 'Operation Raise the Colours' campaign currently taking place across the UK.
In a response to questions on the issue from councillors, DCC said it is taking the matter seriously and that its "a sensitive issue which requires a considered response from all stakeholders, and which should be informed by a comprehensive risk assessment of the situation".
DCC said its area managers will meet with senior garda representatives in the coming weeks and that it will get input from local groups of elected representatives before it decides on the best way to proceed.
A number of well known anti-immigration campaigners have posted online in support of the erection of tricolours, similar to the 'Operation Raise the Colours' campaign currently taking place across the UK.
It is understood council officials have been struggling to find a solution to the issue because there are no explicit rules in relation to flying the national flag in the Dublin City area and the practice is one that often occurs during major sporting events such as the Olympics or the World Cup.
There is also understood to be a reluctance among both council workers and contractors to remove national flags from the areas they have been erected in.
'Weaponisation of the tricolour' - Labour councillor
In a written question to the Council's Chief Executive, Labour Councillor for Dublin South Central Darragh Moriarty asked what action the council is going to take against what he described as the "weaponisation of the tricolour by far-right and malicious agitators who seek to use our flag as a means to intimidate".
He asked the council chief to outline what the policy is with regard to the erection of flags and bunting by "known anti-immigrant actors across city street lights and Dublin City Council social housing complexes".
Cllr Moriarty said "this attempted capture of our flag for hateful intent must be faced head on by the country's largest local authority".
Fine Gael Councillor for the Artane-Whitehall area Declan Flanagan also submitted a written question after being asked on behalf of constituents if the Chief Executive can instruct staff to remove the flag from an area in his constituency where some believed it was being used "outside of the official means to mark territory and homogenise spaces".
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Residents in north inner city write to council
Residents of the North Strand in Dublin's north inner city have also written to councillors asking for the removal of flags that have appeared in the area in recent weeks.
In a letter seen by RTÉ News, the residents said: "We object to the unauthorised erection of these decorations. They dishonour the Flag by flouting official protocol, are in breach of Dublin City Council's rules of the decoration of lighting poles, and are an attempt by a minority to make a political statement outside of the normal democratic process.
"We ask that you direct the chief executive of the council to remove these decorations as soon as is practicable. We strongly oppose the attempted usurpation of our national flag by a group which is not representative of the people of this area."
Independent Councillor for Dublin's north inner city Malachy Steenson said that any councillors who do not want the tricolour hung in their area and who feel intimidated by it should "find another country to go to".
Cllr Steenson said that while he did not personally hang the tricoloours in the North Strand, he fully supports their erection around the city.
He claimed those calling for the flags to be taken down are political lackees who are in the pay of the State, describing them as "woke, liberal activists who despise the Irish nation and have attempted to bring it down for years".
He claimed the practice started two years ago when people were asked to fly a flag for Easter and that it has expanded "way beyond that" more recently to show pride and belief in Ireland and to show "that this is our flag".
He said it is a sign of defiance against the Government by those who are opposed to how the country is being run because of problems with areas such as housing, the cost of living, schools and immigration.
Cllr Steenson also said that he believes if Dublin City Council take the flag down that those who erected them will put them up again in bigger numbers.
He said: "I think that other communities around the country will see this as an attack on our flag and an attack on our nation and our people and in huge numbers they will erect flags and I encourage people to fly a flag in their own garden or in their own window and show that they’re proud of the tricolour which is about unity."
Asked if the flying of the flag was racist, anti immigrant, designed to intimidate or mark terrirtory, he replied: "It marks territory in that this is the Irish nation. Anywhere in this country you can fly a flag representing the country which every citizen in every country should be doing.
"They should be proud of their nation, they shouldn’t be beholden to other nations, that’s why we fought for sovereignty for 600 years or 800 years.
"How can it be racist or any of those things you’ve listed to fly your own flag in your own country. If people don’t like my flag in my country, find another community."
Cllr Steenson also said that he sees parallels between the flying of the tricolour here and the Operation Raise the Colours in the UK, but he said be believed campaigners in the UK are in fact copying a practice that originated in Ireland.
Councillor Gavin Pepper, who represents the Finglas-Ballymun area, said while he was not involved in the erection of flags in his area, he fully supports the flying of tricolours in the city and does not believe they should be removed.
"I think they should be all over the city and I don't think they should be took down at all. I think people should be very proud of where they're from," he said.
"I'm proud of my country and there's no need for anybody to be asking for our national flag to be took down. It should be in every street, on every lamppost, up high and that's the way it should be. Irish flags everywhere."
Angela Redmond, who belongs to a residents group in the North Strand, said the flags do not represent the majority of the community
She said: "We're a wonderfully diverse community and neighbourhood and that has really been added to , particularly over the past decade by all our new neighbours that have come in.
"The message is coming from a very tiny minority. They're very vocal, but they are tiny, they don't speak for the rest of us and the message seems to be one of intimidation, one of unwelcomeness and of hate."
Councillor Moriarty added that the practise of flying the flag for hateful purposes needs to be stamped out
"The patriotism that those flying these flags is borrowing from is English nationalism and I think it's rich to hear Irish patriots borrowing from their English cousins on this issue. We absolutely have to stamp this out.
"I'm calling on Dublin City Council to remove flags that have been put up with hateful intent. People are going around putting these flags up, videoing themselves, saying they are reclaiming our city, they're taking it back and I think that kind of hateful rhetoric has to be stamped out."
