Industry insider blows the lid on multi-million pound scale of bonfire pallet crime.
Staff Reporter
June 26, 2026 09:01
CRIME ON AN INDUSTRIAL SCALE: Our source says a steady annual supply of pallets is ensured by threats from the UDA and UVF to burn premises.
THE theft of pallets from businesses for Eleventh Night bonfires is an “industrialised crime” backed up by paramilitary threats and intimidation.
That’s the claim of a 40-year veteran of the local freight industry who has blown the lid on the scale and extent of spring and summer pallet theft across the North – and in Belfast in particular.
Our source says a steady annual supply of pallets is ensured by threats from the UDA and UVF to burn premises, lorries and goods of manufacturing and retail businesses in loyalist and mixed areas that don’t play ball.
And it’s the fear of violent retribution that means local industry not only continues to allow thieves to enter their premises and take what they want with impunity – but also ensures their silence.
The West Belfast man says that while the perception of bonfire collectors remains that of schoolkids wheeling pallets on a trolley through the streets, the truth is that in the new era of monster bonfires the theft of pallets is carried out by gangs of adults using lorries, vans and trailers.
Large manufacturing and retail businesses turn a blind eye as vehicles – sometimes as large as tractor units with 40-foot trailers – enter yards and depots and simply help themselves. And with the penalty charge for companies failing to return leased ‘blue’ pallets standing at just under £30 per unit, it’s crime on an endemic scale that is costing industry across the North millions of pounds every spring and summer.
“It’s cheaper for companies to lose thousands of pounds worth of pallets every summer than for their lorries or yards to be burnt,” our source said. “So they allow the pallets to be taken and they say absolutely nothing about it.”
He added that pallet theft takes place so brazenly and on such a huge scale that the police are fully aware of it. But, said our source, “It’s handier all round for everybody to pretend it’s not happening – and that includes the police.”
He added: “Try picking just one of those blue pallets up – and then ask yourself how thousands and thousands of them make it from yards and depots to bonfires. Because these pallets aren’t left out in the open. They are stored in secure premises alongside goods and lorries. That’s not kids. That’s organised gangs.”
In a special feature today, we report with the help of the industry veteran on the reality of the scale of pallet theft and the cost to industry of companies and the police doing precisely nothing about it.
“If you stole a bar of chocolate that’s delivered to a shop on a pallet you’re more likely to get arrested and charged than if you stole tens of thousands of pounds worth of pallets in a van or lorry,” our source said.
“There is a total failure to understand the cost involved.”
It’s a cost, says our source, that’s being paid by the manufacturing, retail and freight industries – and it’s a cost that’s ultimately being picked up by the shopper.
One of the biggest impediments to progress on reunification is the tension between party politics
The SDLP’s Matthew O’Toole with former taoiseach Leo Varadkar during the conference The Future of These Islands: Preparing for Change.
By Tom Collins
June 30, 2026 at 6:00am BST
IN one room my wife was watching a documentary on the American War of Independence, while in another I was listening to Christy Moore singing his version of ‘Only Our Rivers Run Free’.
There must have been something in the ether – it was a night for contemplating self-determination.
Sensitised to the struggle for freedom, all I needed was a glass of whiskey and I’d be crying. There’s nothing as self-indulgent as a maudlin Saturday night.
But the whiskey stayed in its bottle as I needed to stay sober. I had to pick up my daughter later that evening, as she was returning broken but unbowed from three weeks in America with her football-mad Scottish boyfriend.
Like the Irish, the Scots are conditioned to having their hopes dashed on fields of dreams.
As readers will know, Moore has a way of loading songs with emotion.
The hyper-poetic opening of Michael McConnell’s lament softens you up.
But the line that strikes home is in the remarkable observation of Ireland’s political and cultural predicament. He sings of: “A land that has never known freedom, only her rivers run free.”
It shouldn’t have come as a surprise, I’ve been writing about the cause of Irish unity for decades, but it was the word ‘never’ that hit home.
We’ve allowed ourselves to be conditioned to believe that Irish sovereignty became a reality with our own War of Independence, and the establishment of the Irish Republic. But that is a faux reality.
The juxtaposition of TV documentary and folk song was striking. Two hundred and fifty years ago this week, the American colonies achieved their freedom; yet Britain’s broken empire still retains its grip on its nearest neighbour.
Ireland has never been free. Never. That’s a powerful word.
The consequences are clear to see. They are primarily economic – too many children in poverty, too many young people let down by educational underachievement, too many people denied proper healthcare, too many old people left lonely and isolated because the social care system is broken.
For much of the 20th century, Westminster failed to live up to its responsibilities for this place, turning a blind eye to gross abuses of human rights, allowing sectarianism to flourish – even at the heart of government – and forcing generations to emigrate in search of work which was denied to them back home.
My mother was among them, as were her father, two sisters and countless cousins.
For unionists, the uncomfortable truth is that while their political leaders were responsible in large part for the decline and fall of Northern Ireland, unionist voters were among those who suffered.
The collapse of manufacturing exposed appalling levels of educational underachievement in unionist areas, while the blind eye turned to loyalist paramilitaries by the RUC left whole communities vulnerable to the predations of gangsters.
Reunification – note, not unification – offers real benefits for all traditions here; not least by replacing a government in London which is essentially the equivalent of a 19th century absentee landlord with an Irish government focused on bettering the lives of everyone within this island.
Nobody, not even the most die-hard unionist, can pretend that the current dispensation is working in the interests of people here.
If anything, the evidence suggests that the psychodrama of English politics is having a negative impact on our ability to survive in an increasingly fractured world.
One of the biggest impediments to progress on reunification is the tension between party politics – the fighting for position between individual parties – and the cause of reunification.
Last week’s conference on The Future of These Islands was an encouraging sign that pro-reunification parties recognise that the imperative to build a new Ireland transcends party politics.
Putting country before party is easier said than done, particularly for politicians conditioned to look no further than the next election.
But ‘country before party’ is the only approach that will secure the outcome they all crave: the ability to effect real change that will better the lives of those they are elected to serve.
In that context, there is an obligation on the two governments to begin the urgent work needed to prepare the way for a border poll (an inevitability) which will allow the Irish people to make an informed choice about the future shape of a reunited Ireland.
An Ireland at peace with its neighbour, an Ireland which is an integral part of the European Union, and an Ireland which takes its place as a truly sovereign nation among the nations of the world.
In short, an Ireland where more than just the rivers run free
As family and friends sadly lay the remains of Adrian Flannelly to rest in his native Ireland, Glucksman Ireland House at New York University sends it deepest condolence and salutes the man who was the Voice of Ireland and Irish America for over 50 years. As the host of Irish Radio’s ‘Adrian Flannelly Show,” Adrian championed the cause of Irish America and Ireland to a wide audience of listeners and fans. His recipe for success was his sincerity and kindness, broadcasting a mix of current news and sports, Irish music, Irish culture, and his inimitable interviews with leaders in politics, business, and the arts.
Adrian had a disarming style of interviewing guests including New York Governors and Mayors and Irish political leaders which often resulted in the most original and revealing of interviews.
Adrian played a central role in securing visas for Irish people to work in America. As Irish Central reported, he “was a major force on behalf of applicants during the Donnelly and Morrison visa programs, even filling up a truck with thousands of applications from Irish immigrants and driving to Washington, D.C., with his daughter Linda to personally deliver them to the government lottery.”
Adrian will be sadly missed by his wife, Aine Sheridan, children, grandchildren, siblings, nieces, nephews, extended family, friends, and many lifelong listeners. May he rest in peace.
Nell McCafferty and Bernadette Devlin at a protest in Derry, 1973 – two women not to be messed with!
Nell McCafferty (1944–2024) was a trailblazing Irish journalist, author, and civil rights campaigner known as the “fierce, fearless, and fiery” voice of Irish feminism. Born in the Bogside area of Derry, she became a towering figure in Irish public life, challenging the social and legal strictures of 20th-century Ireland.
Bernadette Devlin McAliskey (born 23 April 1947) is an Irish civil rights leader, socialist activist, and former politician who gained international prominence during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. At the age of 21, she was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Ulster, becoming the youngest woman ever elected to Westminster at that time.
SNP claims ‘nothing of substance for Scotland’ from likely PM Andy Burnham.
Andy Burnham, the likely next prime minister of the UK, offered ‘nothing of substance for Scotland’ in his first major speech since announcing running to the job, SNP Westminster leader Dave Doogan said.
Katrine Bussey
29 Jun 2026 2:22 PM
Andy Burnham, the likely next prime minister, offered “nothing of substance for Scotland” as he set out his vision to transform Britain, the SNP has insisted.
While the new Makerfield MP – the frontrunner to replace Sir Keir Starmer – promised there would be “new opportunities to extend devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland”, his speech failed to include details of what these changes could be.
SNP Westminster leader Dave Doogan claimed afterwards that the former Greater Manchester mayor was “making the same empty promises” to Scotland “while keeping all of Westminster’s most damaging policies – Brexit, austerity cuts and Tory spending rules”.
Mr Doogan said: “The SNP has been calling for meaningful devolution for years but there is nothing of substance for Scotland in these proposals – and nothing that will fundamentally improve people’s lives.”
His comments came after a speech where Mr Burnham pledged to set up “Number 10 North” – an outpost of 10 Downing Street based in Manchester to drive his plans to rewire the British state.
In what was his first major speech since Sir Keir Starmer announced he would be leaving Downing Street, Mr Burnham promised: “The days of Whitehall fighting the devolution of power into the regions and nations are over, for good.”
Adding that people in Dundee and Bangor “feel just as distant from Holyrood and the Senedd as they do from Westminster”, he said his new “Number 10 north will be the nerve centre of a rewired Britain” and would be “the conduit through which we redistribute power and resources across the UK”.
But Mr Doogan accused the Makerfield MP of setting out “top-down, England-centric plans without even involving the devolved governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in the conversation”.
Speaking about Mr Burnham, the SNP MP added: “He seems to think Manchester is the north of the UK, when it’s barely the north of England.”
The SNP Westminster leader insisted: “If Andy Burnham was serious about devolution then he should start by devolving the energy powers the Scottish Parliament has already voted for – instead of keeping control over Scotland’s energy at Westminster.
“And if he genuinely believes people should have more control over their future, then he must explain why he wants to block people in Scotland from having any choice over ours – by denying Scotland’s democratic right to choose our own future with independence.”
Meanwhile Scottish Greens’ local government spokesperson, Kristopher Leask, said that Mr Burnham’s speech was “big on rhetoric but short on policy, leaving people in Scotland with more questions than answers”.
The Green MSP stated: “Burnham is right that the UK is far too centralised, but this was clearly a speech aimed at the English regions, with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland treated as an afterthought.”
Mr Leask argued there was a “clear case” for decisions on energy, employment and workers’ rights to be taken in Scotland – but said the likely future Labour leader had “offered no meaningful detail” on if this would happen.
He added: “One of the biggest and most immediate tests will come in how he responds to our pro-independence Scottish Parliament calling for the power to hold the referendum that Scotland just voted for.
“If Labour wants to distribute power but refuses to trust the people of Scotland with a choice over its future, then its commitment to devolution rings hollow.”
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay also said that Mr Burnham “needs to flesh out what new powers he’s actually talking about”.
But he added: “Scots will be instinctively alarmed at the SNP government being handed even more control, given their astonishing record of failure.
“Social security spending is just one area where the SNP demanded more powers only to create a system that is worse value for taxpayers and wide open to abuse.”
Mr Findlay added: “Weak Labour politicians seem incapable of understanding that they’ll never pacify the SNP by constantly extending devolution.
“John Swinney doesn’t want devolution to work because his only interest is his lifelong obsession of taking Scotland out of the United Kingdom
