Bonfire builders make statement of intent

A loyalist HQ which became known as the ‘hut of hate’ after violent and sectarian images were displayed has returned to a notorious bonfire site in east Belfast.

Used as a temporary base by bonfire builders, the structure appeared on the site in recent weeks.

It is close to a major leisure centre, owned and operated by Belfast City Council, but the council has so far refused to take action.

Already a flag bearing an image of a crouching masked man holding a rocket launcher has been hung from a nearby lamppost.

Last year the hut contained a similar flag bearing the same image and including the words ‘Clonduff Rocket Team’, the name used by a local gang of loyalists based around the nearby Clonduff estate.

Among other offensive images, the letters UVF were scratched onto a table while beside it was a Swastika made from tape.

Nearby the letters KAT, ‘Kill All Taigs (Catholics)’, were scrawled onto a sofa along with an obscene image.

SDLP councillor Séamas de Faoite said he has raised concerns “about issues at Clonduff for some time”.

“After the farce of last year I asked for the site to be secured so that Belfast ratepayers would not be expected to meet the cost for further unreasonable damage. To date that has yet to happen.”

Preparations for the July 11 ‘Eleventh Night’ bonfires, the world’s biggest single hate event, are well underway across the North. The loyalist bonfires are adorned with a host of sectarian symbolism, including threatening messages, before they are burned to the ground.

The day after the bonfires, hundreds of sectarian parades take place across the North. They mark the Twelfth, the biggest day of the Protestant marching season, when the anti-Catholic Orange Order marks a 17th century battle victory by King William III over King James II.

Despite lingering tensions over the parades, the worst violence these days takes place at the bonfires, which are known for drug abuse and criminality. Some of the loyalist groups involved have received public funding in recent years as part of a vain attempt to moderate the events.

Disturbances have already been reported at the bonfire in east Belfast, with reports of young people throwing items at the public and buildings close to the Clonduff site. Damage has been reported to buildings near the Lisnasharragh Leisure Centre.

In Larne, more than a thousand waste mattresses have been brought to the Craigyhill Bonfire site.

Posts on social media suggests that up to 2,000 mattresses and a trailer load of pallets have already been delivered to the site around three months before Eleventh Night celebrations.

Bonfire builders have denied the soiled mattresses, which when set alight give off toxic fumes and smoke, are to be used for the giant pyre, the largest in the North.

The unionist-controlled Mid and East Antrim Borough Council has so far refused to take action, although the Environmental Crime Unit of the ‘Northern Ireland Environment Agency’ has indicated an investigation is under way.

Local MP, hardline unionist Sammy Wilson, last year praised the bonfire in a parliamentary motion claimed it was supported by local Catholics.

“The efforts of the people in Craigyhill are an example of what is best in Northern Ireland,” he said.

“This is truly a community venture, and one which has involved people from right across the community.

“It is a demonstration of how positive engagement in our history and culture can bring people together.”

But Alliance Assembly member Danny Donnelly urged bonfire builders to rethink their actions.

“Having hundreds of mattresses in a bonfire clearly shows the organisers have no concern for the well-being of others,” he said.

“I urge them to remove these mattresses before it is too late.

“Burning items such as mattresses can release dangerous chemicals and toxic smoke into the atmosphere. Local residents will be the ones who will suffer of this if these mattresses are lit as part of this bonfire.”

Urgent Appeal