O’Neill calls for calm as loyalist bonfires are lit for ‘Twelfth’
THE North’s deputy first minister Michelle O’Neill has appealed for calm amid tensions around the lighting of a loyalist bonfire near an interface area in Belfast.
Ms O’Neill said the siting of the bonfire at Adam Street in Tiger’s Bay in the north of the city had led to residents in the nearby nationalist New Lodge area living ‘under siege’.
Two Stormont ministers, Nichola Mallon of the SDLP and Sinn Féin’s Deirdre Hargey, had launched proceedings against the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) over its decision not to intervene on the bonfire. The police declined to offer protection to removal contractors, citing concerns that their intervention could lead to disorder.
The ministers’ bid to compel the police to act failed at emergency high court proceedings on Friday.
Responding to the failure of her legal challenge, Ms Hargey said: ‘I am disappointed with the decision. It remains my view that this illegal bonfire is not appropriate at this interface location.’
The bonfire was set to be lit last night as part of traditional ‘Eleventh Night’ events in the interface area, where nationalist and unionist residential neighbourhoods adjoin.
Ms O’Neill told the BBC Sunday Politics show that the two ministers had been ‘absolutely right’ to challenge the police in court.
She said: ‘It is disappointing to see the outcome of the court ruling but I do think it was absolutely the right thing to do.
‘Bonfires are illegal, they are bad for the environment and they were trespassing on government-owned land so the ministers have a duty to uphold the law.
‘Everybody is entitled to celebrate their culture, but this bonfire is on an interface area; that draws all the heightened tension. I met with the residents and they feel under siege, their homes have been attacked and that is not acceptable in this day and age,’ she said.