FERMANANGH and Omagh District Council is to receive £10,044.87 from the Electoral Office of Northern Ireland for the use of facilities at Omagh Leisure Centre during the recent election count. 
EONI used the Council facility which was closed to the public as the results came in for the snap Assembly election earlier this month and will pay the fee “to compensate for the loss of the facility.”
It has also emerged that no discussion took place around the issue of flags on the Council property after some unionists, specifically members of the Democratic Unionist Party, queried the unfurling of a tricolour by members of Sinn Fein as the winners of the election were being declared. 
A Council spokeswoman said: “All users are expected to comply with guidelines for the use of any of the Council’s facilities with responsibility for this resting with the person or organisation making use of the facility.”
“The Assembly election was a snap election with just six weeks available to put appropriate arrangements in place. The Council worked closely with the EONI to ensure that such a tight time frame could be met however no detailed discussions took place around the issue of flags and no written agreement was put in place.”
The spokeswoman explained that no complaints have been made to the Council through its official complaints procedure regarding the unfurling of a flag and for future elections, the Council and the EONI “will have more detailed discussions around the use of the facilities in general and to ensure that Council policies are adhered to.”