M&S ditches Union Jack bags in Northern Ireland after backlash from Republicans

Marks and Spencer has stopped selling Union Jack flags in Northern Ireland after backlash from Republican shoppers who described using them as "humiliating".

Paper carrier bags featuring a Union Jack made of fruit went on sale at a branch in Lisburn, near Belfast, earlier this month.

M&S has now stopped selling the bags. saying they had "mistakenly" sent the bags to the store and used when the usual stock of Northern Irish bags ran out.

Shoppers told Irish website Sunday World they were not comfortable using the bags, adding that M&S knew this and "that’s why they have different bags for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland".

The Union flag bag is normally only available in England, with branches in Scotland and Wales having bags featuring their respective flags.

The unnamed woman said she would not want to be seen using the bag, saying it "wouldn't go down well".

Another shopper described being forced to use the Union Jack flag as "triggering".

The mother of three added: "Basically I had been asked to carry something that I want nothing do to with. Unionists probably won’t get it, but it’s humiliating to be told you have to choice but to use that bag."

Critics have said there is no reason for the bags not to be sold in M&S, saying there is "nothing controversial" about them.

Carla Lockhart, the Democratic and Unionist Party (DUP) MP for Upper Bann, said M&S was "pandering to those who seek to take offence".

Ms Lockhart said: "How can it be acceptable in one part of the United Kingdom, yet deemed offensive in another?"

"Businesses should not be in the business of pandering to those who seek to take offence at the very identity and constitutional position of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom," she added.

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And Shadow Secretary of State Alex Burghart asked M&S if it planned to remove the flag from food products and "what pressure they had been put under" to remove the bags.

Gary Hynds, an independent councillor on Lisburn and Castlereagh city council, said: "Imagine being offended by a bag with the flag of the country you live in. Honestly, it must be exhausting.

"At this point, I’m genuinely concerned for them – having to handle coins and notes with the King’s face on them every day, even while paying in that very shop, they must be continuously on edge. Stay strong, folks."

It is understood the bags were only available for a few hours in the store.

A spokesman for M&S previously said: "We offer a range of regional carrier bag designs, which are popular with our customers in each part of the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

"This includes a farmland-based design for Northern Ireland in reference to the wide range of food products we source from the region.

"On this occasion, our Lisburn store was mistakenly sent a batch of bags featuring the England design, which found their way to some customers when the store ran out of Northern Ireland bags.

"This has since been resolved, and cus­tom­ers shop­ping in our Lis­burn store are already back to see­ing their more famil­iar Northern Ire­land bags."