Bonfires build as Foster criticises ‘anti-Orange’ prejudice

Posted by Jim on June 23, 2018

The unionist paramilitary UVF are being blamed for an ‘Eleventh Night’

bonfire being built close to a children’s play park in a built-up
residential area of Belfast.

More than 1,000 pallets and six black oil drums have already been
assembled to an area off the Newtownards Road near Ravenscroft Avenue.
East Belfast cleric Lucas Parks, whose grandfather was an Orangeman,
said he was highlighting his concern now because many others living in
the area were afraid to do so.

“It’s a UVF bonfire; it’s an overtly sectarian bonfire – tricolours get
burned,” he said. He said he worried about anti-social behaviour in the
run-up to the Eleventh Night, the night before the biggest day of the
year for sectarian Protestant marches.

Belfast City Council, which owns the public car park where the fire is
being built, said it would allow ts to proceed.

“We will continue to work with elected members and key stakeholders to
address how bonfires are managed and to minimise any potential negative
impacts on local residents,” the council said. “The approach to managing
bonfires is a member-led issue and a member-led decision making process
has been agreed.”

Meanwhile, dozens of UDA paramilitary flags have been erected in south
Belfast in recent days, including outside a primary School.

The SDLP’s Donal Lyons said the appearance of the flags at Taughmonagh
Primary School was “outrageous” and shows there are some who continue to
act as if they’re “beyond the law”.

“The fact that these UDA flags have been put up at the entrance to a
primary school and outside the local community centre where young
children will be forced to pass under them is particularly outrageous,”
he said. There is no justification for these flags to be up and no
reason that they should stay up”.

Another nationalist SDLP politician was mocked by paramilitaries after a
bonfire sign was erected of him wearing an Orange sash. Former Assembly
member John Dallat is depicted in Limavady wearing in an Orange sash and
includes a message that reads, “Dump bonfire wood”.

“I will be taking this intimation seriously,” he said. “I have asked the
PSNI to interview the culprits with a view to prosecuting them.”

Meanwhile, around 30 pallets were burnt prematurely this week at a
bonfire site on the Sandy Row in south Belfast. It is the second such
case of bonfire material being set ablaze before the marching season
gets underway.

The incident comes despite city council funding of over #26,521 for the
paramilitary-linked Belfast South Community Resources, based in Sandy
Row, to organise a “bonfire diversion”.

Meanwhile, DUP leader Arlene Foster has said she wants to work with the
anti-Catholic Orange Order to challenge “bigotry and prejudice” towards
the organisation.

The Orange Order, which only admits Protestants, was described recently
as a “reservoir of anti-Catholicism and sectarianism” by Presbyterian
Moderator Rev Ken Newell. On July 12, they organise the annual Twelfth
parades, which celebrate the Battle of the Boyne, a 17th century battle
victory over Catholics.

“I want to work with the Orange Institution to ensure the bigotry and
prejudice shown toward its members, halls and parades is challenged,” Ms
Foster said, without irony. “There is no place for such intolerance in
2018”.