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TWO STORMONT MINISTERS have threatened police in Northern Ireland with legal action for failing to assist in the removal of a contentious loyalist bonfire.
Sinn Féin Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey and SDLP Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon have issue pre-action correspondence to a PSNI commander signalling their intention to take a judicial review against his decision not to intervene on the bonfire in the loyalist area of Tiger’s Bay in north Belfast.
The bonfire, which is set to be lit at the weekend as part of traditional “Eleventh Night” events, is the source of escalating tensions amid claims from residents in the nearby nationalist New Lodge that it has been built too close to the sensitive community interface.
Nationalist residents claim they are living in fear and have been attacked by missiles thrown by loyalist bonfire builders.
Loyalists have rejected suggestions the siting of the bonfire was deliberately provocative and have accused nationalists and republicans of whipping up tensions in an effort to deny them what they view as a legitimate celebration of their culture.
Hundreds of “Eleventh Night” bonfires will be lit in loyalist communities across Northern Ireland over the weekend, most of them late on Sunday night, to usher in the main date in the Protestant loyal order parading season – 12 July.
While the majority pass off each year without incident, some remain the source of community tension, with authorities previously having intervened to remove towering pyres on health and safety grounds.
The road on Adam Street where the Tiger’s Bay bonfire has been built is owned by the Department of Infrastructure while an adjacent piece of land where building materials have been collected is owned by the Department of Communities.
The two departments have sought and secured the assistance of Belfast City Council (BCC) to remove the pyre.
However, in order for BCC contractors to carry out the operation they need protection from the PSNI.
The police are refusing to do so, having made the assessment that an intervention would risk disorder, placing people congregating at the bonfire, including several children, at risk.
The ministers’ legal letter to the PSNI notes that the police have taken an “operational decision” not to support the contractors.
The letter, issued through Stormont’s Departmental Solicitor’s Office, says Assistant Chief Constable Alan Todd has informed the departments that police intervention will “likely lead to wider disorder”.
The correspondence to Todd sets out the departments’ “proposed basis to instigate judicial review proceedings” unless he agrees to intervene.
In the letter, seen by the PA news agency, the ministers argue that the PSNI’s refusal to act runs contrary to its statutory responsibilities under the Police (NI) Act 2000, namely to protect life and property, preserve order, prevent the commission of offences and bring offenders to justice.
“The PSNI is expected to facilitate the BCC contractors in securing access to the bonfire site and in removing individuals in and around the bonfire so that it may be dismantled by the contractors,” the letter states.
The Tigers Bay Bonfire Group, which is listed as an interested party in the legal correspondence, has issued a response to the judicial review threat.
In that response, Jamie Bryson, representing the group, has questioned the authority of the ministers to act on the matter, highlighting that under Stormont’s ministerial code issues deemed “significant and controversial” should be dealt with by the powersharing executive as a whole.
Pursuant to that point, Bryson has also sent the response to Stormont’s Executive Office, identifying it as a further interested party.
“The challenge is a clear and obvious attempt by two nationalist ministers to usurp the operational independence of the PSNI,” Mr Bryson states in his letter.
The PSNI has declined to comment on the issue, citing ongoing judicial proceedings.
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Imagine burning the national flag of Ireland on top of a cheap bonfire as the climax to your national holiday….by a bunch drunken yobs after an outdoor beer party….then referring to it as ‘our loyalist culture’ when asked why they partake in such a provocative act….
@Garret Cronus: parading some loyalist or agent orange flag right up to the last minute.
This is literally their time to cry out for help. They know they’re faocjed come winter when the old pallets are in the rear view mirror.
@Garret Cronus: if you’re on twitter look up Limavady bonfire. They actually painted it green, white and orange. An awful hateful bunch.
@Garret Cronus: just so long as you do acknowledge its the same ones in Belfast every year and that in most other places, especially rural areas, outside Belfast, none of that lark goes on. Don’t let the MsM paint a false picture
@Nigel o’Neill: is all over NI. Iv seen them all across NI. With the ivory Coast flags for some reason.
So you are wrong and naive about it being the same ones in Belfast.
There is a huge hate towards the Irish people from orange dinosaurs through to orange children.
@Nigel o’Neill: I am from the north and, in all my years of witnessing loyalist bonfires regardless of location, I have yet to see one without an Irish or, in some cases, an Ivory Coast flag. It’s just an absolute hate fest. Always has been.
@Karl Harty: I didn’t say only Belfast.. I said mainly Belfast and there are tonnes that I see and including the parades that are fully respectful
@Nigel o’Neill: none of the bonfires I have seen over the years were respectful. Sean would also vouch on his sightings.
You said it only happens in certain areas… those certain areas are all over NI.
Where is the hate coming from? From old orangemen. No child is born with hate in them but the oranges breed it into them.
Many of these are public safety health hazards from the toxic fumes of gasoline soaked tyres . No member of the public should be subjected to this danger.
The PSNI, public health & environmental authorities must ensure the safety of all the community. They should be taken to court if they fail in that duty.
@Mentis Green: I heard one say ‘We didn’t rob pallets for our bonfire, we’re Loyalists, not thieves.’ Nearly choked on my Bulmers hearing that one. Isn’t thieving the land they stand on the very origin of Loyalism?
Just get the contractor to burn it down in advance of the 11th
@Bluechip78: was gonna suggest the exact same thing. just toss a molotov over the fence onto the pallets during daylight. if it weren’t too close surely the bottle would fall short.
Tricolour, Papal, Palestinian, Pride and EU flags on their bonfires. Not many escape their hatred. Nobody wants them. They’re outcasts.
Maybe in the interest of safety and protecting the environment, bonfires should be replaced with big outdoor screens on the same sites, showing images of old fires. That will be one way of hanging on to their culture, and they could still drink and sing kick the pope songs that their fathers sang!
Whoever organises these bonfires should made have insurance and pay for any emergency services that are called out if required. They should also be made to pay for the clean up of the area and reseed any grass they have destroyed not to mention a fire for the environmental damage eg air pollution. They must be made to sign their names and take ownership. That will make them think twice about getting involved.
@Mona Murphy: https://fb.watch/6E2VCM1m0t/
Just blitz it with a forest fire helicopter, problem solved.
@edward: ha ha class
Surely, just on environmental grounds alone. Cant they paint themseoves a oompa loompas or something, instead?
Their culture is a culture of hatred, that is crystal clear. It is about time these vile celebrations of hatred were banned. They burn our flag, pictures of nationalist and republican positions,papal flags,pride flags etc and claim it’s just their culture and no hatred intended. I suppose the kkk burning crosses and lynching is just culture in so called loyalists eyes.
Loyalism is built on lies, its just used as an excuse
for sectarian hatred, there was no Tricolour or pride flags to burn in 1690!!, There were no election posters to burn, they had no bag of tinnys to gargle, They have a core hatred of the pope, But in reality all this would NEVER have happened if it wasn’t for the of that time “pope innocent” Financially backing protestant king billy, over Catholic King James, The major Elephant in the Room that unionism/loyalism conveniently chooses to ignore….all this has it roots in the Orange Order born in 1795 which is core value is anti Catholic…Culture my arse!!its just an excuse for pure unadulterated bigoted sectarian hatred .
This belligerent behaviour only serves to terrorise and polarise Population of NI. As Robert Kees Documentary Ireland concludes, we are all prisoners of our own history until we decide to release ourselves.
This sums them up. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10159767455923627&id=716763626
Who would want that culture backwards they are … I bet they wouldn’t say their taughts openly if they were by themselves in the south or abroad
A few water canons will sort out them fires
I’ve been invited to Saskatchewan when the pandemic is over to visit Climax, they’ll thank me for coming, and while I’m in Canada I might visit the coastal town of Dildo which is located in Newfoundland, I wonder where they’ve been hiding their Dildo from me all these years. BTW the town of Dildo song is available on YouTube.
@Noel Martin: it’s true, they’re bonfires are all about the sectarian and racist mind of the loyalists and less about any cultural identity.
have your say