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Moygashel bonfire in Co Tyrone Jonathan McCambridge/PA

Refugee effigies on Tyrone bonfire being treated as hate incident

The bonfire built in Moygashel has a boat on top with more than a dozen life-sized mannequins wearing life jackets..

LAST UPDATE | 10 Jul

THE POLICE SERVICE in Northern Ireland (PSNI) is investigating the placement of effigies of refugees on top of a loyalist bonfire as a hate incident.

The bonfire built in Moygashel on the outskirts of Dungannon in Co Tyrone has a boat on top with more than a dozen life-sized mannequins wearing life jackets.

Below the boat are several placards, one stating “stop the boats” and another “veterans before refugees”.

The PSNI confirmed this evening that it has “received a number of reports regarding the bonfire in Moygashel and the material that has been placed upon it”.

“Police are investigating this hate incident. Police are here to help those who are or who feel vulnerable, to keep people safe,” a statement said.

“We do this by working with local communities, partners, elected representatives and other stakeholders to deliver local solutions to local problems, building confidence in policing and supporting a safe environment for people to live, work, visit and invest in Northern Ireland, but we can only do so within the legislative framework that exists.”

Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland director, earlier described the bonfire as a “vile, dehumanising act that fuels hatred and racism”.

“Amnesty International urges the authorities to ensure its immediate removal and calls on the PSNI to investigate and hold those responsible to account,” he said.

“A clear and unequivocal message must be sent that xenophobia and incitement to hatred have no place in our society.”

The bonfires are among around 300 set to be lit across Thursday and Friday night ahead of the Orange Order’s 12 July parades on Saturday.

The traditional fires, which often carry controversial imagery and slogans, are lit ahead of the main date in the loyalist parading calendar.

South Belfast bonfire

Earlier, the PSNI said a towering bonfire pyre in south Belfast will not be removed after a request was made for the force to intervene, despite warnings it poses a risk to an electricity substation that powers two nearby hospitals.

The PSNI had received a formal request for help with the removal of material from the massive bonfire site at Meridi Street, close to the substation site that also contains asbestos.

The PSNI said in a statement that following a meeting of a multi-agency Tactical Coordination Group yesterday, a decision was made not to send contractors in to remove the bonfire material.

“The consensus of the meeting was that the risk of the bonfire proceeding as planned was lower and more manageable than the intervention of contractors and the proposed methodology of dismantling the bonfire,” the PSNI said.

“The Police Service will continue to work with partners and communities to manage the remaining risks surrounding this bonfire.”

 

Crowds went to Donegall Road last night to protest against calls for the removal. 

Some fireworks were set off and a smaller bonfire set alight, while a car was placed to block the entrance to the site on Meridi Street.

Sinn Féin MLA Pat Sheehan said it was “unthinkable” that the bonfire should be allowed to go ahead.

“[Unionists] must step up and make it clear they do not support the burning of materials that threaten hospital power supplies and risk releasing asbestos into the air,” he said.

“The PSNI must act now to prevent this from escalating.

“This bonfire poses a serious threat to the local community.”

Northern Ireland’s deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly has said people “playing politics” with the Belfast fire should step back and allow safety work on the site to continue.

The DUP’s Little-Pengelly said that work has been ongoing to address safety concerns and defended the lighting of bonfires more generally.

“The vast majority of bonfires are done in a very safe way, in a way that is about community celebration,” she told Cool FM News today.

She said that lighting bonfires is “a very rich tradition, of course not just here in Northern Ireland, but across the globe”.

“For hundreds of years, lighting of bonfires and similar type things have been used in commemoration and celebration.

“Of course, in Northern Ireland, unfortunately, there are usually some contentious bonfires, and I know that on the ground, local representatives and communities have been working hard to try to minimize any risks.

“That is particularly the case in relation to South Belfast,” she said, where bonfire builders and “local community reps” have been communicating with their DUP representatives.

“Everybody is working incredibly hard to make sure that any risks are minimized and that this can be a safe and enjoyable community event.”

With reporting from David Mac Redmond and Lauren Boland

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