A man who died after falling from a Co Antrim bonfire has been named locally as John Steele, with the Larne community said to be “numb” with shock.
The father aged in his 30s was confirmed to be “assisting in the building of the bonfire”, according to the PSNI, when he died after falling on Saturday night.
The accident happened at the Antiville pyre, not far from the larger one which has been in the headlines in recent days.
It is understood officials from the local council will now begin the process of removing the bonfire from the site.
A eulogy at the bonfire site will also be held from 10.30pm in Mr Steele’s memory, with the Antiville bonfire group saying anyone wishing to “pay their respects” are welcome.
John Steele who died after falling from a bonfire in Larne
The tragedy comes less than 48 hours before bonfires are lit across Northern Ireland in celebration of the Twelfth.
“John’s daughter Macy-Lee has recently joined the band and we extend our deepest condolences to her.
“The band also have close ties to the Steele family and we are especially thinking of our members Tia and Tamera Steele. Our thoughts and prayers are also with the entire family at this hard time.”
A local minister has described the sense of shock in the Larne community following the death.
Speaking during their morning service, Craigy Hill Presbyterian Church minister Ben Preston told those gathered: “I am sure you have heard the tragic news of what happened last night.
“Our deepest condolences are with the family and indeed with the whole community. We will be here for you, we will be all too pleased to read God’s word, to pray and to offer a cup of tea.
“We will plan for something maybe here in the afternoon, to offer ministry at the bonfire. I understand from council they are going to be taking the bonfire down which is wholly appropriate.
“We are numb and we are in shock at such an accident and such a tragedy. Continue to hold the family, the community and each other here in your prayers.”
Pacemaker Press: 10 July 2022: A man in his 30s has died after an accident while helping to build a bonfire at a site in County Antrim, police have said.
In a statement to Sunday Life, the Ambulance Service confirmed paramedics were called out just before 10pm last night.
A Northern Ireland Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service received a 999 call at 21:37 on Saturday 9 July following reports of a person having fallen from a height in the Fairway area of Larne.
“NIAS despatched a Rapid Response Paramedic, 2 Emergency Crews and a doctor to the incident.
“Following assessment and initial treatment at the scene, no-one was transported to hospital.”
Pacemaker Press: 10 July 2022: Flowers left at the scene in tribute
Irish Foreign Affairs minister Simon Coveney paid his tribute to Mr Steele, writing: “Very sad and tragic news. Our thoughts are with this young man’s family and friends.”
DUP MP for the area, Sammy Wilson, attended the scene. He said: “It’s a real tragedy. I think his mum was there shortly after it happened. She is shattered by it. A local minister was also there. There was nothing could be done to save his life. People are shocked and horrified.”
SDLP MP Claire Hanna wrote: “Tragic loss of life in Larne last night. Deepest sympathies to the family of this man.”
Ulster Unionist Party MLA John Stewart said it was “tragic news” for the area.
“My thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the man’s family, friends and the entire community at this really difficult time,” he said.
“This was a terrible accident and the local community will rally round to give the family as much support as possible.
“I would appeal to everyone to cooperate with the investigation into what happened.”
East Antrim Alliance Party MLA Stewart Dickson tweeted his condolences to Mr Steele’s family.
“Sad news from #Larne as a young man died after falling from a 11th night bonfire being built in Antiville,” he wrote.
“My deepest sympathy goes to his family and friend and the whole community as it reflects on this tragic death.”
Meanwhile, other bonfires across Northern Ireland paid tribute to the man, including the nearby Craigyhill, who wrote on social media: “It is with deepest sympathy the tragedy that happened tonight to a fellow bonfire builder in the Antiville estate in Larne.
“It is with his family wishes that the Craigyhill bonfire carries on and beats the world record in his memory.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with his immediate family circle.”
In a statement, the PSNI’s Adrian Bryan said: “Police can confirm that a man in his 30’s has died following an accident at a bonfire site in the Fairway area of Larne last night, Saturday July 9.
“We understand that the man was assisting in the building of the bonfire when this tragic accident occurred. Our thoughts are very much with his family at this time.”
“Our investigation has commenced and we are appealing for witnesses, especially those who were in the area last night around 10.15pm, to come forward and contact us on 101 quoting reference number 1866 09/07/22.
“Alternatively, you can submit a report online using our non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/ You can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org/.”
Five people killed during the Springhill/Westrock Massacre will be remembered on their 50th anniversary today
Connla Young
09 July, 2022 03:00
Sinn Féin MP John Finucane
Relatives and friends will gather today to remember five Catholic people shot dead by the British army 50 years ago.
The victims, including three teenagers and a Catholic priest, died during the Springhill/Westrock Massacre on July 9, 1972.
The dead included Fr Noel Fitzpatrick (42), Paddy Butler (30), 13-year-old Margaret Gargan, John Dougal (16) and 15-year-old David McCafferty.
John Dougal was a member of the Provisional IRA’s youth wing while David McClafferty was linked to the Official IRA’s.
The victims died as gun battles raged in the area.
Sinn Féin MP John Finucane last night said it is “disgraceful that five decades later the families of those killed still do not have answers about what happened to their loved ones,” he said.
“The courage and dignity of the families is in stark contrast to the shameful behaviour of successive British governments that has for decades resisted, covered-up and sought to thwart the families at every turn to ensure the truth is never told.”
Mr Finucane was critical of the British government legacy plans.
“Their courage outshines the shameful actions of the Tory government that seeks to provide amnesty to the British soldiers that carried-out the atrocities in Springhill and all state forces who killed Irish citizens,” he said.
“The British government should listen to the voices of victims, families, political parties and the Irish government who are all opposed to these plans and want them scrapped.”
He called for the implementation of the Stormont House Agreement.
A memorial march will take place at 1pm from Springhill Drive today.
REMEMBERING QUILT: Families are being invited to contribute to the quilt this year
RELATIVES For Justice (RFJ) are inviting families whose loved one was killed during the recent conflict to contribute to a special memorial.
The ‘Remembering Quilt’, which was launched in 2001 is the the largest and most inclusive memorial to those killed on the island of Ireland during our recent conflict.
Families from all backgrounds and affected by all actors to the conflict completed 9x9inch squares, each dedicated to their loved ones. Each square is a testimony to memory and love.
The quilt, now 50 feet long, has travelled the globe and featured at New York City Hall, Boston City Library, Belfast City Hall and countless community venues and halls across Ireland and Britain.
Relatives for Justice has received numerous requests to reopen classes and workshops so that even more families can create their own squares and add them to the quilt, and this summer they are doing just that.
Speaking at an open day for the Quilt in their Head Office this week, RFJ CEO Mark Thompson said: “We are delighted that we can now offer online and in person classes to those who have expressed an interest and we are seeking to include as many families as possible.
“The hands that rocked the cradles and nursed those remembered, that laid them out and carried their coffins, are the same hands that make these squares. We value every single family that approaches us.
“Every single family will be supported as they transform the feelings inside them into beautiful and symbolic pieces for the quilt. We are also delighted that these workshops can be held in person and online, as we know that this blended approach really does include those who can be isolated for varying reasons.”
The quilt is open to any family whose loved one was killed during the recent conflict and Mary-Kate Quinn, RFJ’s Family Support Coordinator is available to support those families on marykate@relativesforjustice.com or by ringing 028 90627171.
Ireland’s Great Hunger: Inside the coffin ships. GETTY
The Catholic Church needs heroes like never before, and Bishop Michael Power of Toronto, who was placed on the path to sainthood in 2017, certainly deserves that title.
Bishop Michael Power was the founding bishop of the Diocese of Toronto in 1842 and built a splendid Catholic cathedral there at a time of deep animosity toward Catholicism.
But a recent discovery lays out with far greater definition why the son of Irish emigrants deserves sainthood.
Canadian scientists finally identified the remains of 21 people as Famine emigrants from Ireland who died after their coffin ship was shipwrecked just off the northern coast of Canada.
Three of the bodies were found in 2011 after a great storm washed them ashore. The remains were of two seven-year-old boys and an 11-year-old boy. The bones showed signs of advanced malnutrition.
The 18 others, mostly women and children, were found after an archaeological dig in 1916.
They were among a party of 180 wretched souls from north Sligo, forced off their land by Lord Palmerston, a two-time British prime minister who owned 10,000 acres in the area.
3
Desperate scenes of loss during the Famine.
The peasants had no choice. It was either to hell or to Canada, and Palmerston rented several coffin ships to rid himself of his tenants.
Of the 100,000 who fled to Canada in the year 1847, 20,000 died on coffin ships.
Thousands died on land, but the numbers would have been far greater but for Bishop Power.
In one of his first pastoral letters, Power wrote, “We should not forget that we have not fulfilled our duty towards our neighbor if we confine our charity and our solicitude to those with whom we live; for the divine light of our revelation shows us a brother, a friend in being, a member of the human race…that all men, without exception, are our neighbors and should be dear to us. “
Power realized that to fully staff his parish he needed to find more priests, and he departed on a mission to Ireland in early 1847 to recruit them. While there, he realized the horrific consequences of the Famine and the fact that hundreds of thousands would be fleeing to Canada, with first stop his diocese.
While the city hid in fear of the contagion, Power gathered what help he could to tend to the plague-stricken and starving Irish immigrants. He built fever huts and a makeshift hospital which saved hundreds of lives.
3
Families made impossible decisions during Ireland’s Great Hunger.
Historian Murray Nicholson writes that Power appealed for help. “Archdeacon Hay, himself ill with tuberculosis, Father Kirwin, Father Proulx from the north, Father E. Kelly, Father Schneider from Goderich and Father Quinlan from Brantford answered their bishop’s plea,” Nicholson wrote.
“These men, along with John Elmsley, a dedicated Catholic layman, and the Anglican Bishop J. Strachan, courageously entered the fever sheds set up on the wharves to tend the sick and the dying. Bishop Power contracted the disease and paid the supreme price on October 1, 1847, in service to his church and his laity.”
The Cross newspaper in its obituary said, “It is said that neither night nor day witnessed his absence from the depositaries of disease, until at length kneeling over the bed of infection, and listening to the sorrows of some poor penitent, he inhaled the miasmata of death. Grief of such a loss is natural.”
He was just 42. Bishop Power deserves his sainthood.
True patriots don’t fuel racist, religious or ethnic divisions. Patriots seek to confirm and strengthen and celebrate the ‘we’ in ‘we the people of the United States’
‘True patriots don’t put loyalty to their political party above their love of America.’ Photograph: Zac Goodwin/PA
Mon 4 Jul 2022
On this Fourth of July, it’s worth pondering the true meaning of patriotism.
It is not the meaning propounded by the “America first” crowd, who see the patriotic challenge as securing our borders.
For most of its existence America has been open to people from the rest of the world fleeing tyranny and violence.
Nor is the meaning of patriotism found in the ravings of those who want America to be a white Christian nation.
America’s moral mission has been greater inclusion – equal citizenship for Native Americans, Black people, women and LGBTQ+ people.
True patriots don’t fuel racist, religious or ethnic divisions. Patriots aren’t homophobic or sexist. Patriots seek to confirm and strengthen and celebrate the “we” in “we the people of the United States”.
Patriots are not blind to social injustices. They don’t ban books or prevent teaching about the sins of our past.
They combine a loving devotion to America with a demand for justice.
This land is your land, this land is my land, Woody Guthrie sang.
Langston Hughes pleaded:
Let America be America again,
The land that never has been yet –
And yet must be – the land where every man is free.
The land that’s mine – the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME –.
Nor is the meaning of patriotism found in symbolic displays of loyalty like standing for the national anthem and waving the American flag.
Its true meaning is in taking a fair share of the burdens of keeping the nation going – sacrificing for the common good. Paying taxes in full rather than lobbying for lower taxes, seeking tax loopholes or squirreling away money abroad.
It means refraining from political contributions that corrupt our politics, and blowing the whistle on abuses of power even at the risk of losing one’s job.
It means volunteering time and energy to improve the community and country.
Real patriotism involves strengthening our democracy – defending the right to vote and ensuring more Americans are heard. It is not claiming without evidence that millions of people voted fraudulently.
It is not pushing for laws that make it harder for people to vote based on this “big lie”. It is not using the big lie to run for office.
True patriots don’t put loyalty to their political party above their love of America.
True patriots don’t support an attempted coup. They expose it – even when it was engineered by people they once worked for, even if it’s a president who headed their own party.
When serving in public office, true patriots don’t try to hold on to power after voters have chosen not to re-elect them. They don’t make money off their offices.
When serving as judges, they recuse themselves from cases where they may appear to have a conflict of interest. When serving in the Senate, they don’t use the filibuster to stop all legislation with which they disagree.
When serving on the supreme court, they don’t disregard precedent to impose their ideology.
Patriots understand that when they serve the public, one of their major responsibilities is to maintain and build public trust in the offices and institutions they occupy.
America is in trouble. But that’s not because too many foreigners are crossing our borders, or we’re losing our whiteness or our dominant religion, or we’re not standing for the national anthem, or because of voter fraud.
We’re in trouble because we are losing the true understanding of what patriotism requires from all of us.
