PSNI blanks calls to tackle loyalist bonfires

Posted by Jim on July 9, 2026

The PSNI has come under renewed criticism after refusing to remove loyalist paramilitary propaganda erected at an Eleventh Night bonfire site on the outskirts of north Belfast, despite recently acquiring enhanced legal powers to tackle such displays.

UVF banners and other paramilitary insignia appeared in the Ballyduff area of Newtownabbey in recent days as part of the annual display of sectarian triumphalism surrounding the Eleventh Night bonfires ahead of anti-Catholic parades by the Protestant Orange Order.

Although amendments to Britain’s ‘Terrorism Act’ were introduced earlier this year, granting the PSNI greater authority to remove paramilitary displays, the force has once again failed to act against openly displayed UVF propaganda.

The PSNI’s reluctance to enforce the law against loyalists has reinforced evidence of unequal policing and the state’s tolerance of sectarian intimidation from unionist and loyalist organisations.

Among the banners erected at the site in Newtownabbey is an expensively produced display depicting two masked and armed UVF figures carrying assault rifles. Other signs prominently feature the insignia of the UVF and its youth wing, the Young Citizen Volunteers (YCV).

One banner declares: “The prevention of the erosion of our identity is now our priority – Ballyduff, Glengormley.”

Another glorifies the “1st East Antrim Battalion” of the UVF alongside an image of a masked gunman, while listing a number of loyalist districts across east Antrim.

The bonfire itself is draped in flags, including one bearing the emblem of the British Army’s Parachute Regiment—the regiment responsible for the Bloody Sunday massacre in Derry in January 1972, when 14 unarmed civil rights marchers were shot dead.

A further flag commemorates a a local UVF commander who died in 2020, highlighting the continued public glorification of loyalist paramilitaries.

SDLP councillor Carl Whyte said the displays constituted clear breaches of the law.

“Decades after loyalist ceasefires, loyalist paramilitary organisations continue to operate as organised criminal gangs, exploiting working-class communities while enriching themselves,” he said.

“The erection of these disturbing paramilitary displays breaches multiple laws, including the Terrorism Act. Nowhere else in Britain would armed terrorist propaganda be tolerated in this way. The PSNI should exercise its powers and remove these displays immediately.”

Earlier this year, PSNI Deputy Chief Bobby Singleton told the Policing Board that “failing to act” over paramilitary flags and emblems was no longer an option.

But last week it emerged that East Belfast UDA flags had again been erected close to Garnerville, despite years of controversy surrounding the display of loyalist paramilitary emblems in the area.

At a recent Policing Board meeting, Alliance Assembly member Peter McReynolds admitted loyalist paramilitaries were effectively “giving two fingers” to the PSNI and Stormont departments and openly mocking the authorities’ repeated failures.