Bonfire on main road 'reckless and sectarian', minister says

Building a controversial bonfire in the middle of a main road in Londonderry's Bogside was "reckless" and put people at risk, Stormont's infrastructure minister has said.

The fire on the Lecky Road flyover - one of the main roads in and out of the area – has sparked widespread criticism after images of First Minister Michelle O'Neill, as well as flags and emblems, were burned on it.

Police are treating the burning of the effigies, along with other items including union flags, Israeli flags, Parachute Regiment, Somme remembrance and Northern Ireland flags, as sectarian-motivated hate crimes.

Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins described the Derry bonfire as "hate-filled sectarianism".

She said it was "totally unacceptable", was not representative of most people in the city and had put public safety at risk.

Commenting on the location of the bonfire, Kimmins said: "It was putting people at risk, it was blocking roads and certainly it's not where any of us want to be."

Last week, the Department for Infrastructure, with PSNI support, removed about 500 pallets that had been stored beneath the flyover.

The operation led to disturbances in the city.

O'Neill later said it was "right and proper" that the material was removed.

Two other bonfires in the Creggan and Top of the Hill areas were also lit after flags and effigies had been placed on them.

Ulster Unionist Party leader Jon Burrows said the Bogside bonfire was a "pyre of sectarian hatred" and "absolutely disgraceful".

He called for earlier planning involving councils, police, the fire service and community groups, with agreed locations, safety standards and clear rules for bonfires.

"I think all bonfires should be safe, respectful and lawful," he said.

Burrows said organisers should be held accountable when standards are breached and authorities should intervene where bonfires pose a risk to life or property.

He added that police often face difficult operational decisions and that protecting life must remain the priority.

Bonfires on 15 August are a tradition in some nationalist areas of Northern Ireland, while fires are lit in some unionist areas around the Twelfth of July celebrations.

The latest controversy follows criticism last month after a bonfire in County Tyrone topped with a replica mosque was lit before police could remove it.

Sinn Féin MP Chris Hazzard described sectarian bonfires as "hate-filled pyres" and said it was time to "move beyond them".

"We absolutely should have the management and regulation of bonfires right across the piece," the South Down MP told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster.

He said political leaders needed to show a united approach and argued such bonfires should no longer take place.

Derry and Strabane SDLP councillor John Boyle described the burning of images and flags as "blatant sectarianism".

"We can see from both the weekend and over the last couple of months that there's just nothing positive about them," he told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today.

DUP MP Gregory Campbell said a bonfire ban would be difficult to enforce, adding most bonfires pass off without incident.

He described the burning of O'Neill's image as "unacceptable" and said police should set out how they intend to deal with the small number of bonfires that cause problems.

There is an onus now on police in relation to the bonfire on Saturday, he said, to "give us an analysis of what they're going to do in the future".

The Catholic Bishop of Derry, Donal McKeown, condemned the placing of material on the bonfires at the weekend, describing some incidents as a "hate fest".

"There was an air of jollity and cheerfulness about it, and yet, when it came to the things that were put on the bonfire for burning, clearly there was a huge hate fest involved in it, at least on the part of some of those who were involved," McKeown said.

"I'm grateful that the thing passed over all right, that no damage was done, but I think we can't build a hope for the future of our young people if we feed them anger about other people all the time."