Norris, who was elected to the Seanad by graduates of the college, told the Sunday Tribune that he believed it was inappropriate for the college not to fly the national flag. This follows a call made earlier this week by the Trinity Students' Union for the college authorities to raise the tricolour over the college each day.

Currently, the tricolour is flown over the college on national holidays and national days of mourning, as well as when heads of state visit Dublin. However, in a statement this weekend, a spokeswoman for Trinity said that the college was "looking at further opportunities to fly the flag".

Following on from student calls earlier this week, Norris said he believed it would be "perfectly appropriate" for the flag to fly over Trinity every day.

"There should be no problem [with flying the flag], " he said. "Trinity is an Irish institution, largely funded by taxpayers' money. It is proud to be Irish, just as Ireland is proud of Trinity."

The Trinity Students' Union this week began a campaign to have the flag flown over the college on a daily basis.

As well as setting up a petition, students' union president David Quinn led a group of students who mounted the tricolour at the entrance to the college. Security staff requested that they remove the flag.

The college has never flown the tricolour on a daily basis. While the national flag is flown on special occasions, the college flag is flown at college events and the University of Dublin flag is flown for graduation ceremonies.

Aside from these occasions, the flagpoles at the college remain bare.

In 1945, the issue of flags famously caused a mini-riot at the college, when future Taoiseach Charles Haughey, then a student at UCD, burnt a Union Jack outside the college on VE Day.

While there is protocol in place regarding the flying of flags at the college, there is no firm statute in place.

Alleged statutes in the college have been the source of much debate over the years, amid rumours of a host of outdated rules and regulations. However, a spokeswoman this weekend said that these rumours were nothing but "urban myth".

Amongst the regulations said to still exist at the college is one allowing scholarship students to order a glass of brandy during examinations. Furthermore, according to legend, scholarship students have a right to wear swords into lecture halls and to shoot snipe on College Green.

However, a spokeswoman for the college denied that any of these regulations remained on the statute book at the college. The statute book is updated regularly, she added.

According to Norris, during his days as a scholarship student he was offered the opportunity to avail of several perks due to old statutes, including being invited once a year to take part in a game of marbles on the college steps.

Norris said that it would be a shame if the college rid itself of these old rules.

"They add colour and charm and give a connection to a different period, " he said. "Besides, one never knows when the itch would come and one would want to shoot snipe on the green."